Source: https://www.bungie.net/en/News/Article/50040
This week at Bungie, we introduce Seasonal Challenges.
Welcome to the second-to-last TWAB of Season of the Hunt. Many of you have been navigating the secrets of the Harbinger mission, uncovering randomly rolled Hawkmoons and earning the Radiant Accipiter Exotic ship. Content-wise, we’re coming to a close for the Season, and we’re incredibly excited for what’s to come in just a few short weeks. We’ve been covering some upcoming quality of life changes to Destiny 2, like the return of Umbral Engrams, but it’s almost time to take a peek at fresh content.
Season of the [REDACTED] trailer goes live on February 2, 2021.
Before we get there, we have a new feature to cover, Seasonal Challenges, and a round of weapon-focused sandbox changes to walk through. As a warning, this is a pretty large amount of information in a small space. We've joked about "meaty" TWAB's before, but this one may feel a bit overwhelming if you rush through it. Let's take it slow, step by step, and get through it together in one piece.

Introducing: Seasonal Challenges

Over the last year, we’ve been looking at ways in which we can reduce the amount of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) in Destiny 2. We’ve recently made some changes to Seasons and how Seasonal content is available throughout a given year of Destiny 2. This week, we’re looking to bounties and Bright Dust, introducing a new system not only to remove FOMO, but give fresh ways to earn XP and alternate rewards. To walk us through the ins and outs of Seasonal Challenges, we pass the mic to the Development team.

Dev team: During production of Beyond Light, we started looking at the problems of bounty fatigue and FOMO, as well as Seasonal legibility (i.e., “What is in a Season?” and “How to I engage with it when I log in?”). We created a few goals which we believe will improve the experience:

Provide a guide to new, returning, and veteran players for what to do today/this week.

Guide the player through the Seasonal content, week-over-week.

Encourage players to engage with complexities and nuances of the Seasonal activity and rituals.

Reduce the penalties on XP and Bright Dust for missing a given week.

To solve these goals, we are introducing a new pursuit type for players – Seasonal Challenges. The Seasonal Challenges live on their own page, are accessed through the Quest Log or Season Pass, and are separated by week.
Image Link^{^{^imgur}}
Here’s a quick breakdown of how this feature works:

Every week, for the first 10 weeks of a Season, between 3 and 10 new Challenges appear automatically for players.

Some of the Challenges deal with the Seasonal content.

Others push players to complete strikes, Gambit, and the Crucible, or to focus on non-activity focused Destiny rituals, like gaining Power, unlocking Seasonal Artifact mods, or improving guns and armor.

These Challenges can only be completed once per account, but once they become available, these Challenges can be completed at any time before the end of the Season, and do not need to be started or picked up from a vendor.

As an example, if a player doesn’t play for weeks 2 through 4, they can return on week 5 and have all of those Challenges waiting for them!

Completing each Challenge awards XP, contributing to your Season Pass ranks.

Other rewards could be Bright Dust, Seasonal currency, or other interesting items!

In moving away from weekly bounties, which were restricted to broad objectives tied to ritual activities, we have taken more leeway with creating some interesting or more difficult Challenges. These may be things you are already doing, or things that test your ability. Some examples include:

Defeating Primeval Envoys in Gambit

Defeating enemies in Nightfall: The Ordeal with Seasonal weapons

Gaining Infamy or Valor ranks

Acquiring the ritual weapon and its cosmetic ornaments

Winning rounds in Trials of Osiris

Completing a Grandmaster Nightfall

Not all the Challenges will require that level of accomplishment, but the harder or longer the Challenge is, the more experience it rewards. Challenges that focus on the Seasonal activity and ritual mostly need the Season Pass to complete, but most of the ritual focused Challenges can be completed without the Season Pass. Overall, roughly 60% of the Seasonal Challenges do not require the Season Pass.
With the changes above, we are removing weekly bounties from the three ritual vendors (Zavala, Shaxx, and Drifter), Banshee-44, and the Seasonal vendor. These vendors will still have daily bounties which reward XP, and the three ritual vendors will still have repeatable bounties for those of you who want to pursue additional XP and Bright Dust.
Lastly – most of the Challenges disappear after the Season they were introduced, and anything that isn’t claimed will be lost. We don’t add any new Challenges after Week 10 – which should give everyone a few weeks to clean up any Challenges they didn’t finish. Any Challenge that rewards unique or Seasonal items (currencies, lore books, Seasonal weapons, etc.) – can be completed as long as the Seasonal activity is in the game, but XP awarded for completing the challenge will only be available during the season it was introduced.
Let’s Talk Bright Dust
Back before Beyond Light launched, we discussed some of the goals around the changes to Bright Dust. As a refresher, we wanted to change the way you earn Bright Dust and move more towards account-specific paths to give players with only one character significantly more Bright Dust than they've been earning over the last year. In Season 13, we’ll be continuing to move toward these goals by adding Bright Dust onto Seasonal Challenges.
Since you no longer have to purchase weekly ritual bounties, each of the strike, Crucible, and Gambit Seasonal Challenges will award between 75 and 300 Bright Dust. We are also introducing an end-of-Season Bright Dust bonus – if you complete (nearly) all of the Seasonal Challenges, we are awarding a single 4,000 Bright Dust pile.
Additionally, each ritual vendor challenge (“Complete 8 bounties”) awards 120 Bright Dust for each character who completes it each week. And because this is prompted by the removal of weekly bounties, the only Seasonal Challenges that will be awarding Bright Dust are the ones that both Season Pass owners and free players can complete. Here’s a quick breakdown of how much Bright Dust you should expect to earn over the course of Season 13.

Seasonal Challenges Bright Dust (All Players)

Free Seasonal Activities – 6,000

Seasonal Extra – 4,000

Total – 10,000 Bright Dust

Season Pass Bright Dust

Free Path – 7,500 (All Players)

Paid Path – 3,000 (Players who own Season Pass)

Total – 10,500 Bright Dust

Weekly Ritual Vendor Challenge Bright Dust (All Players)

120 Bright Dust per ritual vendor, per character, per week

14,040 total if completing all required weekly Challenges over the course of Season 13

Additionally, we still plan to offer weekly and repeatable Bright Dust bounties for Seasonal events, giving you a bit more Bright Dust towards desired rewards.
As a final note, please be sure to claim all Seasonal Challenges that award Bright Dust prior to the end of a Season. Once a Season ends, associated Challenges and their Bright Dust rewards will expire and can no longer be claimed.

It’s always exciting when we bring a new feature online for Destiny 2. We hope that the changes detailed above make it easier to create goals to complete each week. As always, we’re eager to hear your feedback once you start finishing your first Seasonal Challenges, so please sound off with your thoughts!

Back to the Sandbox

Image Link^{^{^imgur}}
Every Season, we have a collection of changes to the Destiny 2 sandbox to spice things up a bit. This Season, we’re making some targeted changes to weapon archetypes that need some love as well as beginning some preparations for crossplay.

Dev team: In preparation for crossplay, coming later this year, we’re making some changes to the Recoil stat.
Currently, several weapon archetypes have their Recoil reduced by around 40% (dependent on archetype) when using mouse and keyboard. This results in an issue where players on mouse and keyboard are able to largely ignore the stability weapon stat, creating unintended discrepancies in weapon performance between controllers and mouse and keyboard.
The following weapon archetypes will have their mouse and keyboard Recoil adjusted closer to controller (reduced the difference from ~40% to ~20%).

Auto Rifle

Scout Rifle

Pulse Rifle

Submachine Gun

Hand Cannon

Machine Gun

In the case of Pulse Rifle, Submachine Gun, and Machine Gun, we will also be introducing some buffs. In some cases, these weapons will have less Recoil across both Controller and mouse and keyboard input methods compared to what’s in the game today.

Submachine Guns are largely outclassed by Auto Rifles at medium range, and by Sidearms at short range, with player feedback often mentioning how hard they are to control. To address this feedback, we’re introducing the following change:

Reduced camera movement from firing a Submachine Gun by 24%.

Pulse Rifles with the mouse and keyboard changes were kicking a little too much.

Reduced camera movement from firing a Pulse Rifle by 7%.

Machine Guns with the mouse and keyboard changes were kicking a little too much.

Reduced camera movement from firing a Machine Gun by 9.5%.

We will pay close attention to how these changes play out when they go live, and plan to revisit individual archetypes in a future update as needed.
Outside of Recoil adjustments, we will also be tuning a few weapon archetypes in Season 13. Looking through backend data and community feedback, we landed on the following:
Buffs

Rocket Launchers have fallen behind other Heavy weapons in most measures of effectiveness, we’re pushing them more into a burst damage role.

Increased Rocket Launcher damage by 30%.

Exotic Rocket Launchers have been adjusted individually and are affected by this change to different degrees.

Paired with the buffs to reserves from last Season, we’re hoping you’ll explode many more things in Season 13!

Fusion Rifle usage is very low, and they feel like an unreliable choice in Crucible compared to Shotguns.

Increased Fusion Rifle damage falloff start distance based on Range stat. (6% with 0 Range, 16% with 100 Range)

Reduced camera movement from firing a Fusion Rifle by 9.5%.

Breech Grenade Launcher usage is very low (outside of Mountaintop). We believe part of the reason is that the loop of "hold the trigger to arm, then release to detonate” is challenging to execute, particularly since projectiles can bounce off targets if the trigger is held

Breech Grenade Launcher projectiles will now detonate on impact with a character, even if holding the trigger.

Nerfs

While Sniper Rifle usage has dropped in Crucible, we’ve observed that it’s hard to challenge someone with a Sniper Rifle – even if you get the first shot on an enemy, they can often respond and win the fight.

Increased ADS flinch to Snipers when taking damage from other players

Swords are extremely dominant in PvE. At this time, 65% of players are using Swords for the majority of gameplay encounters in Destiny 2. While we are introducing a buff to Rocket Launchers to make them a bit more enticing, we feel that Swords do too much damage compared to other options.

Reduced Sword damage by 15%.

Exotic Changes and Bug Fixes

Some Exotic weapons lose their buffs when you switch weapons, which is intended. They would also lose their buffs when pulling out your Ghost Shell, which is not intended. Fixed that issue on these weapons:

Ace of Spades

Tarrabah

Hawkmoon

Borealis and Hard Light now have a custom (quite short) animation for switching damage type.

Duality

Increased damage falloff distance by 1.25m (while both firing from the hip and aiming down sights).

Reduced maximum buff stacks from 7 to 5, each stack now grants more of a damage bonus, extended buff duration slightly.

Sturm will once again reload any equipped Special slot weapon on kill provided the Special weapon's clip isn't full already and there's available reserve ammo.

Fixed an issue that was preventing Merciless from increasing its charge rate on non-lethal hits.

Ah, and before we go – we are planning to take a quick tuning pass on Arbalest. This won’t be ready in time for February 9, but we are expecting to have this touched later in Season 13!

Now, we know it can be difficult to understand the scale of buffs and nerfs without having these changes in your hands. Not to mention, there will be some new perks for you to hunt as you start navigating content in Season of the [REDACTED]. As always, we’re excited to see these changes out in the wild on February 9, and will be eager to hear your feedback.

Crimson Days

Each year, we look to February as a time to celebrate bonds of friendship throughout the community. Guardians have come to know this celebration as Crimson Days. It was one of our first “Seasonal” events in Destiny 1, a tradition that we carried to Destiny 2. While there was great enjoyment of Crimson Days, we feel that it’s been missing the mark in terms of quality over the last few years.
As such, we have made the decision to discontinue Crimson Days moving forward. While we’ll miss the event, this move will allow us to maintain focus for alternate Seasonal offerings, ranging from quests to activities and more. We have quite a bit planned for Season of the [REDACTED] and our hope is that we’ve maintained, or even improved, the quality you’ve come to expect from this upcoming release.
Some of you may be asking about the fate of Crimson Doubles, our once-a-year Crimson Days playlist. This mode is currently being shifted to the Destiny Content Vault but may return in the future.
Many thanks to every Guardian who has joined us over the years for this event. Crimson decorations may not be hung in the Tower, but we have no doubts that you’ll continue to form Crimson Bonds over the years to come.

BugTrax

Image Link^{^{^imgur}}
For those who may be new to the TWAB, welcome to the Player Support Report. This section is dedicated to known issues, active investigations, and pending updates for Destiny 2. Our Player Support team navigates the Help forum daily, collecting info on new issues and dishing out help articles.
This is their report on the most frequently reported issues of the last week.

CRUCIBLE TOKENS AND FRAGMENT QUESTS
Due to the updates to the vendor progression system, Crucible Tokens and Crucible Token Gifts are no longer needed and will be deprecated into Junk that will delete as a full stack starting in Season 13. Additionally, current Stasis Fragment Quests will be deprecated at the end of Season of the Hunt. Players are advised to turn in all Crucible Tokens and Crucible Token Gifts and finish all available Stasis Fragment Quests before Season 13 starts.
KNOWN ISSUES
While we continue investigating various known issues, here is a list of the latest issues that were reported to us in our #Help forum:

Stasis abilities can be difficult to distinguish between enemy and friendly for colorblind players.

The Double Trouble Triumph is unobtainable.

In the Deep Stone Crypt raid, the augment lockout timer occasionally resets during the final encounter against Taniks.

During the final fight against the Sanctified Mind in the Garden of Salvation raid, sometimes a shielded tether box can become tethered instead of the correct glowing tether box.

Hunter legs clip through the Ten-Grasp Sword Sparrow.

In the Last Wish raid, the Shuro Chi puzzle room plates don't work if a Titan bubble or Warlock well are placed on them.

The Titan Phenotype Plasticity Helm eye clusters no longer glow red.

Weekly and daily elemental kill bounties have stopped rotating off of Void.

When overcharging grenades while using the Voidwalker top tree subclass as a Warlock, Super energy stops charging.

For a full list of emergent issues in Destiny 2, players can review our Known Issues article. Players who observe other issues should report them to our #Help forum.

[Bird Noises Intensify]

Image Link^{^{^imgur}}
It’s been fun watching Hawkmoon clips and montages throughout the Season. With recently introduced random rolls, players have been pushing the limits of this Exotic, taking on 1v1 encounters in the Crucible that they may have otherwise avoided. This week, our top pick not only got a sweet roll on perks, but a killer roll on audio, too!
Movie of the Week: Ting Ting Ting Ting
Video Link
Movie of the Week: Deep Stone Lullaby Violin/Piano Cover
Video Link
Movie of the Week: …That’s a lot of Hawkmoon
Video Link
As always, if you'd like to submit your creation to be featured in a future TWAB, make sure to create a post on the Community Creations portal of Bungie.net.

Credit Where It’s Due

Image Link^{^{^imgur}}
Every day, we take a moment to scroll through various social media apps to take a look at community artwork. We’re always awestruck by the talents that many of you possess, and eager to share your works with a wider audience.
Here’s a quick roundup of some sweet art, and direct links to their authors. Give them a follow if you want to see more of their stuff!
Art of the Week: Art Sharing

destiny art share!!! spread the positivity, doesn't matter how frequently you do art or how many pieces you've made - post your favorites!! #Destiny2Art #DestinyArtShare pic.twitter.com/bq6hHJrCLD
— 🥀alex🥀🏳️‍🌈 (@miyagiie) January 25, 2021

Art of the Week: Eris

나는야 내일부터 월급쟁이 #냙서 pic.twitter.com/MI6Y6Gi1LY
— 🧅김냘본™🍺 (@NyarNyarbon) January 17, 2021

Cheers, and make sure to tag your content with some form of #Destiny2Art so we can find you easily!
That’s it for this week, folks. Season of the [REDACTED] is almost here. We’ll have some patch previews to cover in the TWAB next week, so stop by if you’re interested!

If this gets 7 likes we'll add a new LZ on Europa next Season.
— Destiny 2 (@DestinyTheGame) January 27, 2021

We’ll see you again next week, bright and early on Tuesday morning.
Cheers,
dmg04

[Mobile Gaming] How the Nyan Cat led to the death knell for a popular mobile game- the downfall of RWBY Amity Arena.

Note: Many of the links are to the Amity Arena Library, a website devoted to the game which includes tracking the history of it through patchnotes and a running history of what cards entered and left the meta. Their website was a valuable resource for this post.

Mobile gaming has taken off like a wildfire since the advent of the smartphone boosted the average processing power a phone could carry. Initially it took the form of crossing over older, more easily runnable games onto the mobile market to... mixed success, but in recent years we've seen both the West and East use mobile gaming to replace the old fashioned movie tie in game. It's easily accessable, has a much wider reach than consoles or PC, you can take it on the go and standards are inherently lower for mobile games than they are a full 60 dollar game.
Since the 2010s, mobile gaming has shifted to what's called the "Freemium" module. The game itself is free to download and start playing, but is insideously designed with obnoxious paywalls or artificial limiters put in place to limit how much you can play each day. If the game is part of a pre-existing franchise, additional money can be made through a premium currency or a chance to obtain high-powered units by rolling a ~~slot machine~~ random chance mechanic. And thus, gacha gaming was born. This sub has had several threads in the past on high profile gacha games, such as the monolithic Fate Grand/Order, Pokemon Go or Genshin Impact. One of the more popular things to roll for in gachas as a consequence is wallpapers for your homescreen, especially for high-grade units as they're usually animated to move a little bit on the homescreen. Today we're looking a low to mid-tier gacha game that rose and fell with the advent of one catgirl. Let's talk RWBY.
RWBY is an online web anime made by Rooster Teeth focusing on four prospective monster hunters who get embroiled in a world-spanning shadow war. It's of debatable quality in matters of animation, combat, voice acting, story, worldbuilding, romance, and it's kind of a little racist if I'm being honest, but one of the major positives of RWBY is that the series tends to have good character design. Series creator Monty Oum set in the guidelines for the show while making it that most if not every design should be made to be cosplay friendly, hence why most of the outfits have things most costume designers haven't heard of like... pockets. And Rooster Teeth, above all else, likes making money. So they know people like RWBY's character designs, enough so that in 2017 plans were made to release a gacha game themed around RWBY called Amity Arena, which would be developed by Korean company NHN Entertainment.
Amity Arena is a PvP tower defense game. Each player controls two turrets and a tower and has three minutes to use units themed from the show to destroy the other player's structures. Whoever took out more wins, destroying a tower is an instant victory. When the game launched, it had three tiers for units- Common (generally held for mooks or low-tier characters in the show), Rare (roughly protagonist-level or elite mooks go here) and Epic (High tier characters usually with an active ability that did lots of damage or stopped enemies in their tracks). The game launched in October 2018 to generally positive reviews from both mobile game players and RWBY fans alike. Fans were happy to get a lot of new official art for the characters in the game and the base gameplay loop was fun. Criticism at the time was largely themed around the lack of content besides PVP matches and some issues with the meta but overall, the launch went well. Each month, the developers would add new units, including popular characters like Neopolitian, Cinder Fall, Zwei the dog, and more.
But everything changed with February 20th 2019, which introduced Neon Katt, the titular catgirl (RWBY characters are themed around fairytales, except for Neon, who is themed around Nyan Cat, and her partner Flynt Coal, who is themed off a potentially racist joke made by Rooster Teeth).
Neon is a character from RWBY Volume 3 who's part of a team that RWBY face during a tournament arc. Her partner, Flynt Coal, was part of the game at launch, and Neon would join him a few months later. Neon in the show is a cocky fighter who taunts the heroes and zips around on rollarskates, which in-game is represented by Neon skating towards the nearest enemy structure to her and hitting it, while all units within a radius of Neon are taunted and provoked into attacking her above all other targets unless they-selves are coded to hit structures. On its own, not a bad idea for a unit, but Neon came with four big caveats:

Neon was the fourth corner of the square that became known as the Artillery Arena meta, which saw Neon, Cinder (who had an AOE ability she could use which was wide enough to hit a turret and tower and single-handedly killed the entire launch meta of using fragile swarm units), Zwei (an on-summon high damage AOE on any part of the map) and Penny (another AOE ability that instead did chip damage and locked a location down) turn the game's meta into a chip game. Every player ran at least one of the above cards, if only to counter the others. Neon was the universal counter in being anti-swarm and the hardest to stop, especially at launch where her taunt range was so large, it could grab units from the other lane.
Neon launched with a unit weight of "Heavy", which meant that if she was behind a unit she could push it on her way to the turret. This launched a sub-meta where Neon was placed behind a larger unit such as the Ursa (which like Neon was a unit that focused on structures but was made slow to cover its tankiness), to push them towards the turret faster. This was called Disco Bear. They eventually patched this so Neon phased through units by making her a lightweight.
Neon couldn't die. She was invincible until she hit a structure, which combined with her taunt meant that Neon was very annoying to fight and could lock down an entire lane of the battlefield by being placed well and taunting enemies to let you prepare a counter.
Neon was a very cheap unit to summon. Amity Arena uses a mechanic called "Aura" where all units cost a certain amount and it recharges over the match- for instance, protagonist Ruby Rose has a Rare card that costs four Aura to summon, while Weiss Schnee has two rares that cost three and five. Neo only cost two Aura, which made her one of the cheapest units of the game and thus disproportionately powerful for her cost and easy to cycle through your deck so you could spam her.

From the word go, Neon is an unpopular unit; she's clearly overbalanced and elements such as the Disco Bear glitch have players thinking she'll have to get knocked down in a nerf- she'll either be made slower, more expensive, or able to die pre-hitting a structure, right?
Neon doesn't show up in the next patch. Instead, before she's fixed, an entire new class of units called Legendaries are introduced, and this is where the game goes full gacha. Legendaries were meant to represent the highest tier characters in the game, the ones who were either the most popular characters or the highest-tier fighters in the show. Or in some cases, the popular ships such as combo cards for White Rose (Ruby/Weiss), Bumblebee (Blake/Yang) and Flower Power (Ren/Nora). Legendaries, representing their value, were impossibly rare and had an infinitely small chance of actually appearing (The most reliable method was to buy the premium chests and hope you'd roll a Legendary, which often cost tons of money), and if you did get one, there was no way to guess which Legendary you'd actually get. Some such as White Rose and Adam were high tier units, others like Hazel or Checkmate were... kinda broken at launch. The playerbase isn't happy at this, especially as free to play players are left out in the cold and reliant on the game giving them high tier units effectively out of pity.
Neon would get a small nerf in the April patch which lessened her taunt range and killed the Disco Bear meta, but her invincibility would be left untouched, even as players submitted feedback regarding how to make it more efficient. The official Amity Arena discord has a weekly feedback section on Tuesdays where players could submit up to four suggestions on how to nerf/buff units and general requests for quality of life such as "Can this character get a new skin from this part of the show," or "Can we have an option to lower music volume that's not just muting all music?" (they never did add that second request) Neon would then remain in this state until the November patch, despite constant weekly requests for a Neon rework, and all it would do is make Neon functionally mortal, in that she had a flat shield bar of 20 that would be lowered by one for each attack before the next hit would kill her. Neon could now die... but your chances of actually doing enough damage to stop her were slim, and regardless, you were now at a serious Aura defecit.
It took seven months for this one unit to get a substantial nerf, all while the game added new units every week and the number of units being affected by patches each month began to gradually sink. To round up some of the major issues people had with Amity that developed throughout 2019 alongside Neon's general existance making life hell:

Common units were meant to be chump fodder, but could level up the most amount of times with a level cap at 13. This meant longer-term units that had a long time to level such as the Xiong Family card, the AK-130s the Beowolf Pack, or the White Fang gunners, could become shockingly strong if players grinded the money up to reach max level.
A pre-existing divide between free players and players willing to burn money IRL to get access to premium currencies led to a huge disparity in play. Free players have long complained about how hard it is to scrounge money together to level up units at higher costs as even the basic currency of Lien is hard to get large quantities of (you get a certain amount every match win but otherwise you need to burn the Schnee Premium Dust currency for the highest payouts, but SPD is also needed for shop resets, buying crates or unlocking cosmetics). The developers used to do frequent double weekends where all gains were doubled for a weekend, but these became less and less frequent as time went on. Legendaries only added to the divide, as their rarity was bad enough for players willing to spend money (one player, known as one of the largest whales in the community, in trying to get Sienna Khan, reported burning nearly nine hundred dollars on her, while taking nearly six hundred to get the Ice Flower card).
One actual counter was born to fight Neon in the Argus Shield, a stationary unit that existed solely to stall units and take damage. At 2 Aura, it was the first structure to counter Neon, which allevated one of the primary problems with Neon in that no way to counter her was cost-efficient for an enemy player. They buffed the Wall to 3 Aura eventually which killed that hope, and all this happened before Neon's November nerf.
The Summer of 2019 saw a large number of defensive units released; alongside the Argus Shield, several different units were released themed around turrets for the technological kingdom of Atlas, such as the Beam Turret. The Atlesian Burrow Gun was the straw that broke the camel's back and made for a miserable meta as the Burrow Gun would only appear (and be available to take damage) when a unit entered its range. These three units together were all very overpowered on launch and led to a large exodus of players sick of defensive and chip-based metas, especially as what few offensive units that were good enough to counter these metas (such as Professor Port and Adam Taurus) were often nerfed into the ground within a month of release.
Also around this time it became apparent that the developers were unable to meet the quotas that Rooster Teeth was forcing on them. The social media team admitted that a certain number of units needed to be in the game in time for Winter 2019 when Volume 7 was set to start, and as the year went on more and more game-breaking bugs were being found in units, or they were at best horrifically undertuned or overpowered. The Apathy was perhaps the largest case of this, as an unfound bug pre-release meant that the Apathy (who have a passive ability that let them self-duplicate) had no cap on their power, meaning that they could immediately overwhelm defenses and in the case of some phones, be such a resource hog the phone would crash. Many Legendary units were especially guilty of being under-tuned due to low Legendary availability meaning they were simply weren't powerful enough to compare with high-levelled units. Checkmate's ability simply didn't work at launch, and Neon made several more such as Hazel Rainart a joke. May Marigold's invisibility bubble would have been an interesting game changer... were it not for a bug that made it that units placed in the bubble still played their sound lines, meaning players knew what to expect. Things were so bad that when Flower Power launched and wasn't broken or needed an emergency patch, the playerbase were shocked.

Unfortunately, the Novemember patch did little to stop the problems with Neon, and a new problem would rear its head for Christmas: Jinn. This unit embodied many of the problems players had: She was a Legendary so it would be hard for free players to get her, and only added to the sheer number of Legendaries that were out there. She was another structure card, and she was horrifically broken. Stopping time for seven seconds in an area around any friendly units, Jinn broke the game overnight, with players horrified at how little playtesting she'd clearly had. Most chip units now couldn't damage structures as Jinn simply could stop time and freeze the turret for the duration of the attack. And to make matters worse? She cost two Aura, meaning it was very easy to cycle a deck and start Jinn spamming.
And yet at two aura she was still one of the only cost-efficient Neon counters... until they patched her to be worth three Aura instead. Talking of the feline menace, January saw Neon get a HP nerf that set her shield at 14. Finally, Neon could be realistically be taken out, still at an Aura defecit but at least it can be countered and now they just have to raise her Aura- why are you buffing her game?
Less than a month later, Neon got, of all things, a buff. Her HP shield was set at 20, and her attacks now did double damage. This is around the point where a lot of players begin to suspect the developers aren't listening to feedback and more long-term players dip out or drop the game. Neon got touched one more time in April, which slowed her down (which itself was a problem as Neon's lessened speed on spawn simply made her better at generating aggro), she dealt 10% less damage and made it somewhat easier to hit her enough to kill her, but a new problem was on the horizon. Because Neon was now no longer the game's White Whale for patches.
Meet the White Fang Gunner Barracks. Added in September 2019, the Barracks fell under many player's radar simply because they were horrifically undertuned. Their gimmick was that every few seconds, a White Fang Gunner would spawn, with three spawning on death. In April, as Neon got her last appearance in the patches, the Barracks got a huge buff and became the centerpiece of the meta; they now spawned two Gunners, which made them immensely valuable for just five Aura. You could overwhelm many anti-swarm units before they had a chance, and shred your way through turrets.
The Barracks would then go six months before this overtuning was rectified, barring one nerf in August that lowered their health to try and stem the tide of units. To sum up every other thing that went wrong during the year meta-wise:

The playercount was getting so low that players were able to make lists of the AI bots the developers had in place so lower-level players had a challenge (Amity breaks up players by a trophy system where you gain trophies with every win, and by this point most of the active players were in the 2500 to 3500 range. This also meant new players steamrolled through the lower levels only to hit a brick wall in the 3000 range, with the only reliable solution being to willingly lose matches until you were in your optimal range and grind victories until you reached a certain level.
The patches became more and more threadbare, going from 8+ units getting changed each month in early 2019 to three units at most getting changed in 2020 patches outside of the anniversary patch going back to the golden days of eight. The only area where they didn't get more threadbare was in the cosmetics and emotes that the developers were cranking out, all of which were only available through hours of grinding or premium currencies. This was despite the fact that the units were being released slower, going from once a week to once a fortnite.
The majority of units added in 2020 were Epic or Legendary tier, which were the hardest to get for free players unless they got lucky and they were added to the store (and if they had the lien as a Legendary in the store costs a flat 40,000 Lien). One Common and four Epics were released compared to twelve Epics and seven Legendaries. The release of Moonslice Adam especially was annoying for this regard, as Adam already had a Legendary released (at least for Team RWBY, each of them headlined a Legendary when it came to the team attack cards), and this was clearly done to pander to Adam's fans again as his first unit saw a spike in interest in the game. The math was done and showed how artifically scarce Legendaries were made.
The undeovertuning was still in play. Colossus is seen as one of the worst cards in the entire game because of its gimmick. I have literally never seen anyone play it. Flynt became overtuned and now he's a staple thanks to his trumpet's AOE attack being able to hurt turrets and shred most units. Launcher Nora was an especially overtuned unit thanks to her high-damage constant AOE barrage and long range meaning she could annhilate most anything if given enough cover. Even after patches she's still dangerous. September saw the White Fang Dropship Formation added, which was widely seen as a terrible unit and done as an emergency addition because the planned unit for September in the Grimm Seer had to be cut last minute for technical reasons.
The game has barely had significant content added since launch, with the primary gameplay still just being PVP. Barring Battle of Beacon (a mode where you can play as Ruby and Weiss and fend off Grimm which most players just use to grind chests, and no, they still haven't added Blake or Yang) and Plaza (a lobby where you can dress up as a character and run around Beacon), the game has added no new features and quality of life content players have requested since launch (rerolling in the shop, Superior Crates having guaranteed Legendary spawn rates) have been released at a snail's pace (you still can't reroll Legendaries if you're looking for a specific unit). Academies where players can unite to trade units and chat still lacks features that have been requested for years such as the ability to delete messages. And Plaza immediately went to hell because players were doing erotic role play in the chats and after people came forward with proof that minors were being sexually harassed in the Plaza or being coerced into side-channels, the dev response was to... just turn off the chat entirely instead of banning the accounts or implementing moderation. This also removed the chatlog which deleted a lot of the evidence of said harassment.

As OctobeNovember comes in, the players are getting more and more furious. The weekly feedback includes a near constant demand for an acknowledgement from the developers given how often it feels like the feedback is being ignored. The social media team get caught several times hyping up how the coming patch would address player concerns, only for said patch to lack those units. The meta has been locked down to the Xiong Family, Flynt, Launcher Nora, Spider-Mines and the hell-cat herself in Neon. Everyone runs at least one of these, people run meta decks not because they want to, but because it's the only way to have a chance of victory.
And then in December, things implode. The patch for the month was set to launch on December 10th with the monthly event missions. But when the clock rolls around, the event missions (which usually take about two weeks to do if you're doing as many as you can a day)... has a six day timer. And the update doesn't come out. The art team doesn't release new unit art. The shop has no special timed bundles. There's no patch notes. And then the Twitter team who've been hard carrying the game through... actually talking to the players and acknowledging the grievances they have... admitted that they don't know what's going on either. The best guess is that the devs have come down with Covid, but no statements to confirm or deny this leave it as guesswork. The timer eventually got reset and people could do the event, but then on Christmas itself, another issue.
Ruby has appeared in the plaza on Halloween (her canonical birthday) and Christmas, and if you go talk to her you get free stuff. But on Christmas people, people discovered that Ruby was talking as if you'd already talked to her. Because they hadn't updated Ruby yet for 2020. She still thought it was 2019 so if you'd talked to her then for goodies, she had none now. They patched it eventually but a lot of people didn't see this fix before the timer ran out to get the free stuff.
Some have resorted to memes to cope with the fact that the game just seems to have died out of the blue. Others have been trying to desperately rally the players and find a way to save it. Some resorted to friendly mockery of the whales who'd spent thousands on a game that seems to be dying (seriously though gacha games need to curb this shit but they won't because whales are godsends for their bank balances).
If the game doesn't get an update in January then two months without new content will mark the end, and the already significant playercount drops will only increase. And it's hard to say if any one thing could have turned Amity Arena's fate around beyond just "Have a better balancing team who can respond better to feedback." Neon began the time of death, but by the time December rolled around the meta was in a horrifically toxic place where if you wanted to make any progession, you had to get down and dirty with the pigs. The team just constantly failed to balance problem units outside of their emergency hotfixes of Jinn, and more often then not they went after units and buffed or nerfed them at random going off playcounts to determine what needed fixing instead of the actual written feedback they were getting. It's clear from the references to the show and some of the attempts to reach out to the community that at least one person in the team genuinely wanted to make the good appealing to RWBY fans, but somewhere during the game's lifespan, they lost their way. Less focus needed to be put on how to milk the players, and instead focusing on making a game sustainable and enjoyable enough to warrant the cosmetics and emotes. The game's failure ultimately isn't on the playerbase. It's on the people who were actually making the game who chose to slack off because they thought it acceptable to do so.
Thanks for reading.
EDIT: HOT OFF THE PRESSES, I JUMPED THE GUN
Had I waited one more day, my story would have had a far more sudden ending, as the game just announced its shutdown for January.
RIP.

40 Upcoming Indie/AA Games

With so many games releasing nowadays, I think it's easy for the good ones to get lost in the shuffle. I'm going to list 20 highly anticipated Indie/AA games. I'm sure there's many great ones I'll probably miss (like I said, there's so many it's hard to keep track sometimes), so please let me know what other ones I should look out for. I’m going to order them by release date. If the game does not have a tangible release date, I’ll place it in the list based on what I think is more likely to come out first, based on marketing material and release date delays.
1. Cyber Shadow

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: January 26, 2021
Genre: 2D Action Platformer
Multiplayer: None
Description: This game looks like a cyberpunk Ninja Gaiden. It's very fast paced and has some huge enemies to fight. The player character looks to have a very versatile moveset which looks to complement both the platforming and the combat. This is apparently the work of one guy, making it all that much more impressive.

2. TOHU

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: January 28, 2021
Genre: Point & Click Adventure
Multiplayer: None
Description: TOHU has you exploring a variety of fish planets, solving puzzles and unraveling mysteries behind the protagonist’s mechanical alter-ego, Cubus. The musical score is composed by Christopher Larking, the same guy behind Hollow Knight’s soundtrack.

3. Little Nightmares II

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: February 11, 2021
Genre: HorroAtmospheric 3D Platformer
Multiplayer: None
Description: Little Nightmares was a big indie success back in 2017, and the sequel looks to lean heavier into its horror elements. The game will feature two characters this time around - Six and Mono - as they brave the horrors in this larger than life world to discover the dark secrets of The Signal Tower.

4. Taxi Chaos

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: N/A
Release Date: February 23, 2021
Genre: Crazy Taxi-like Arcade Racer
Multiplayer: Unknown
Description: Crazy Taxi hasn’t had a new console/PC entry since 2002 (however there were two for handhelds in the mid to late 2000s and two for mobile phones in the 2010s). Taxi Chaos mirrors the formula of picking up customers and dropping them off in a race against the clock. Sega, the developer behind 1999’s original Crazy Taxi, gave developer Team6 Studios their blessing and are actually set to publish the game in Japan and other Asian regions.

5. Rangok Skies

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: March 1, 2021
Genre: Shoot ‘em Up
Multiplayer: 2 Player Local Co-op
Description: This is a vertical SHMUP with four different characters, online leaderboards, and large enemy encounters. Characters will have their own unique ships, weapons, bombs, and story endings. A demo for the game was introduced back in September, and the developer has rolled out steady updates detailing the development of the game.

6. It Takes Two

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: March 26, 2021
Genre: Co-op-focused 3D Platformer
Multiplayer: Local & Online Co-op
Description: It Takes Two follows a clashing couple who have been turned into dolls. This is the second game to come from Hazelight Studios, creators of A Way Out. Like that game, this one is built around the co-op experience and is both online and local co-op. If you play online, only the host needs to own a copy of the game.

7. Balan Wonderworld

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: March 26, 2021
Genre: 3D Platformer
Multiplayer: Local Co-op Only
Description: This comes from the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog and Nights into Dreams. It's a 3D platformer with a dreamlike carnival theme. You'll wear a number of different costumes (80+ according to the game description) that grant different abilities. The game also has a Chao Garden-like feature for Sonic Adventure fans. The adorable little creatures in this game are called “Tims.”

8. Garlic

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: March 31, 2021
Genre: 2D Precision Platformer
Multiplayer: None Announced
Description: Garlic tells a less than romantic tale of an onion boy climbing the Sacred Tower to seduce the Cyber Goddess. This is a “1 bit platformer” with a monochrome aesthetic and an emphasis on one screen levels with lots of wall jumping and strange but catchy tunes to accompany the action.

9. King’s Bounty II

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: March 2021
Genre: Turn-Based Strategy RPG
Multiplayer: None Announced
Description: The original King’s Bounty released all the way back in 1990, which also spawned a board game in 1991. It wouldn’t receive a follow-up until 2008 when King’s Bounty: The Legend released. Four expansions would be released between 2009 and 2014. Progress and features of the game are continually updated on the Steam page of the game.

10. Clive ‘N’ Wrench

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: Spring 2021
Genre: 3D Platformer
Multiplayer: None
Description: This game has been in development for 10 years now and is clearly inspired by Banjo Kazooie. The game follows a tag team duo – a rabbit and a monkey – through 11 different worlds in a collectathon-style platformer. The two characters like act as one unit to perform certain moves, just as it was in Banjo Kazooie.

11. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: Q2 2021
Genre: Zelda-like Top Down Action Adventure
Multiplayer: None Announced
Description: After being evicted from his home, Turnip Boy sets out on a quest to topple a corrupt vegetable government. You’ll explore dungeons, solve puzzles, fight enemies and bosses, and find treasure along the way.

12. Knight Squad 2

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: Early 2021
Genre: Arena Fighter
Multiplayer: 8 Player Competitive Local & Online Multiplayer
Description: The original Knight Squad first released in 2014. It was an arena fighter that took heavy inspiration from Bomberman, with eight player battles and a ton of different game modes. Knight Squad 2 will introduce even more game modes, better graphics, and more customization options.

13. Hell Pie

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: Early 2021
Genre: 3D Collectathon Platformer
Multiplayer: None Announced
Description: Hell Pie reminds me of Conker’s Bad Fur Day with its cutesy aesthetic contrasted with adult humor and lewd scenes. Hell Pie follows a demon named Nate through both open and linear levels, tethered to a plump angel called Nugget, who can be used as a weapon, a grappling hook, and a guide.

14. Iron Meat

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: “This Winter”
Genre: Run & Gun
Multiplayer: Local Co-op
Description: Iron Meat is a retro inspired grindhouse game made by one guy, Ivan Suvorov. There is a demo on Steam with two of the levels currently, with eight total announced for the full release, and three difficulty settings to choose between.

15. There Is No Light

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: August 2021
Genre: Souls-like Action RPG
Multiplayer: None
Description: The game looks as bleak as the title suggests, with gorgeous pixel art and great enemy design. Big, epic bosses seem to have prominent presence here judging from the trailer, and combat animations look slick and smooth.

16. 30XX

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: 2021
Genre: Roguelike/2D Action Platformer
Multiplayer: Local & Online Co-op
Description: 30XX is the sequel to 2014’s 20XX. This is a Mega Man X inspired roguelike with both local and online co-op. There were eight characters with different abilities to play as in 20XX, and it looks like a similar approach is kept for the sequel. Despite taking place 1000 years after the original, Ace and Nina at least, are still present in 30XX.

17. Scorn

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: 2021
Genre: First Person ShooteHorror
Multiplayer: None
Description: Inspired by the works of H.R. Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński, Scorn is an atmospheric blend of horror and a first person shooter. You play as a skinless humanoid in a nightmarish world. The studio behind the game, Ebb Software, was founded in 2013 and first showed the game off in 2014. The game was announced for a 2021 release date in Microsoft’s Xbox Series X showcase in 2020 and will be coming to PC as well.

18. Windjammers 2

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: 2021
Genre: Indie Sports
Multiplayer: 4 Player Competitive Local & Online Multiplayer
Description: Windjammers is a fast paced blend between pong and frisbee that originally came out in 1994. An updated version of the game was released for Steam and modern consoles with online play, and Windjammers 2 will be a new sequel 27 years after the original release. Players can choose between a multitude of characters with different stats, with a few mini games to boot.

19. Hollow Knight Silksong

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: 2021
Genre: Metroidvania
Multiplayer: None
Description: 2017’s Hollow Knight is one of the biggest indie games of all time, in both its popularity and scale of the game. Silksong was originally just meant to be a DLC for the original game, but the project expanded into a full-scale sequel. The original is probably the single most popular indie Metroidvania out there, so there’s a lot of hype for the sequel.

20. Psychonauts 2

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: 2021
Genre: 3D Platformer
Multiplayer: None Announced
Description: This has been a very long time coming, but with all the gameplay footage and marketing material coming out for the game, it seems Psychonauts 2 will finally release in 2021. The first game released in 2005 – three PlayStations ago – and was a cult classic. The director of the first game, Tim Schafer (Grim Fandango, Brutal Legend, Broken Age, etc.) is also directing the sequel, so there is a lot of hope from the fanbase.

21. Coromon

Picture: Link
Gameplay: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: 2021
Genre: Pokemon-like Turn-Based RPG
Multiplayer: None Announced
Description: Coromon dons a similar pixel art aesthetic that defined the fourth and fifth generation Pokemon games. When a Coromon gains experience points, you will be able to distribute the stat points as you see fit. Trainers are customizable, and there are also multiple save slots. There is a demo available on Steam.

22. Solar Ash Kingdom

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: N/A
Release Date: 2021
Genre: 3D Adventure
Multiplayer: None Announced
Description: This comes from the same developer as Hyper Light Drifter. Solar Ash Kingdom has a lot of the same stylized aesthetics as Hyper Light Drifter, but this is a fully 3D over the shoulder adventure. You’ll engage with massive enemies, traverse the world at high speeds, and meet many characters throughout the adventure.

23. No Place for Bravery

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: 2021
Genre: Top Down Action Adventure
Multiplayer: None
Description: No Place for Bravery boasts a low fantasy setting with Sekiro-esque combat and stories based on real life. The game follows Thorn, who – with his disabled foster son, Phid – seeks to find answers to his daughter’s disappearance from long ago. There is a demo available on Steam.

24. Bushiden

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: 2021
Genre: Metroidvania
Multiplayer: None Announced
Description: Bushiden has you taking control of a cybernectic ninja in a futuristic world, on a quest to find his sister who has vanished. There are a number of unlockable traversal and combat abilities, as well as purchasable upgrades.

25. Hazel Sky

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: 2021
Genre: 3D Narrative Adventure
Multiplayer: None
Description: This is an adventure following a young engineer on an island in the flying city of Gideon. The game boasts exploration, a heavy story, and the ability to build and repair “incredible flying machines.”

26. Gestalt: Steam & Cinder

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: 2021
Genre: Metroidvania/Action RPG
Multiplayer: None Announced
Description: This is a steampunk side scroller with narrative choices and a fast paced combat system. There are side quests, skills to level up, and secrets to uncover. Originally planned for 2020, the developers regularly post tweets on Twitter to keep fans updated with the project.

27. Jack Move

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: 2021
Genre: Turn-Based RPG
Multiplayer: None Announced
Description: Set in a cyberfunk universe (real word is getting the post removed by the automoderator), Jack Move follows a hacker who seeks to rescue her father from the evil mega corporation, Monomind. The combat system will allow for a number of customizable options both in and out of combat.

28. Heavenly Bodies

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: 2021
Genre: Co-op Focused Physics-based Adventure
Multiplayer: Local Co-op Only
Description: Heavenly Bodies follows two cosmonauts in the 1970s who must work together through a series of physics-based challenges. While the game is built around the co-op experience, the game can still be played in single player. While this is only local co-op at the moment, the Steam page seems to suggest that the developer is looking into options for online play.

29. Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: 2021
Genre: Run & Gun
Multiplayer: Local Co-op Only
Description: This is technically a DLC, but given the wait for it, I think it’s fair to expect a fairly sizeable one. This DLC will introduce a new playable character, Ms. Chalice, who will have a double jump and possibly other differentiating moves. This DLC was originally supposed to release in 2019, but it’s been delayed a number of times. For reference, the original game released in 2017 and took seven years to make (though the two brothers responsible for the game had day jobs and a much smaller team up until 2014).

30. Brave Earth: Prologue

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: “Coming (very) Soon”
Genre: 2D Action Platformer
Multiplayer: None
Description: This comes from Kayin, the creator of I Wanna Be the Guy. This is an NES Castlevania inspired game with three playable characters that have unique paths and differing abilities. The game will also feature cutscenes and over a dozen different levels. The game has been in development for years now and is near completion.

31. Hazelnut Bastille & Dawnthorn

Picture: Link
Trailer: Hazelnut Bastille Link; Dawnthorn Link
Steam Page: Hazelnut Bastille Link; Dawnthorn Link
Release Date: “To Be Announced”
Genre: Zelda-like Top Down Action Adventure
Multiplayer: None Announced
Description: Hazelnut Bastille actually has a 2-3 hour demo with a full dungeon included, which I didn't know about until just now as I was making this list! Heavily inspired by top down Zelda games, these games have some really beautiful looking art. Development for Hazelnut Bastille began back in April 2016. Dawnthorn, a prequel to Hazelnut Bastille, will also be releasing around the same time in 2021. Dawnthorn will emulate the look of an NES game, while Hazelnut Bastille will look more like an SNES game.

32. Freedom Planet 2

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: “When It’s Done”
Genre: Sonic-like 2D Platformer
Multiplayer: None
Description: The original Freedom Planet was initially conceived as a Sonic fangame before the the creator, Stephen DiDuro, reconceptualized it as his own IP. The sequel was announced back in 2015, a year after the original’s release, and will introduce new mechanics and make changes based on feedback from the first game.

33. Acid Knife

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: “When It’s Done”
Genre: 2D Action Platformer
Multiplayer: None Announced
Description: This game comes from the creators of Crawl and Regular Human Basketball, two highly acclaimed competitive local multiplayer games. Unlike their previous work, this looks to be a campaign/adventure game, but it also has a demonic narrator just like Crawl. They're also making The Drifter right now.

34. Cassette Beasts

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: “Coming Soon”
Genre: Pokemon-like Turn-Based RPG
Multiplayer: Local Co-op Only
Description: From the creators of Lenna's Inception, Bytten Studio, which released on Steam in January of this year – a randomly generated Zelda inspired local co-op action adventure game with two art styles to switch between. The two guys behind the game have also worked on Starbound, Stardew Valley, and Wargroove, so they have quite a pedigree of games. Cassette Beasts in heavily inspired by Pokemon and includes 120 beasts that can be combined for a total of 14,400 fusions.

35. Tale of Ronin

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: 2021
Genre: Turn-Based RPG
Multiplayer: None
Description: Developer Dead Mage has won me over with both Shadow Blade: Reload and Children of Morta. Their new game, Tale of Ronin, focuses on the “human side of the Samurai,” and will feature a dynamic world to explore and allow for you to make story-based choices that impact the storyline.

36. OddBallers

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: Link
Release Date: TBD
Genre: Indie Sports
Multiplayer: 6 Player Local & Online Competitive Multiplayer
Description: This is the spiritual successor to Stikbold. It’s a dodgeball game with wacky antics and multiple game modes. Players can do free for all or team based matches, and if it’s anything like Stikbold, it will also have a two player local co-op campaign with a few boss fights.

37. Spark the Electric Jester 3

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: None
Release Date: Unannounced
Genre: Sonic-like 3D Action Platformer
Multiplayer: None Announced
Description: Spark 3 will be the second 3D platformer in the Spark series. It’s no mystery where Spark takes its inspiration, but it does it well and mixes action sequences into the mix while removing a lot of the bloat found in most 3D Sonic games. Spark 2 is well regarded by the Sonic community, and the third game looks to up the ante with even more mechanics, like wall running.

38. Samurai Gunn 2

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: N/A
Release Date: TBD
Genre: Arena Fighter
Multiplayer: 2 Player Local Co-op/4 Player Competitive Local Multiplayer
Description: Samurai Gunn 2 is the sequel to the 2013 PC exclusive. The game is designed by Beau Blyth, the co-creator behind Hyper Light Drifter. The game plays similarly to TowerFall, in that you platform around a fixed screen and try to shoot the other players. The sequel will launch exclusively on Switch first, with a release for other platforms in the future. The story mode will allow for up to two players in local co-op, while the competitive mode will allow up to four.

39. Witchbrook

Picture: Link
Trailer: N/A
Steam Page: N/A
Release Date: Unannounced
Genre: Action RPG
Multiplayer: None Announced
Description: This comes from the creators of Wargroove. Witchbrook will allow you to experience high school as a wizard. A website for the game was launched back in September, so it seems progress on the game is coming along. The website seems to suggest you’ll be able to develop relationships based on your choices in the game.

40. Witchfire

Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Steam Page: N/A
Release Date: Unannounced
Genre: First Person Shooter
Multiplayer: None Announced
Description: This comes from the same developer as The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, The Astronauts, but instead of just walking, you'll be walking and shooting demonic creatures. If this game reminds you of Painkiller from 2004, it's because director Adrian Chmielarz actually worked on that game. The game has been worked on for five years now by a team of nine full members and three contributors, so hopefully we'll see it soon.

What are some other upcoming indie/AA games you’re looking forward to?
If you’re looking for more indie games to play, see my post here:

Another 10 Overlooked Single Player Indie Games

Outriders - FAQ

Hey guys. So as we are slowly edging closer to release and the demo, in my boredom I've decided to create a simple FAQ as I find myself answering a lot of the same questions.
Some of these answers are lifted directly from PCF, some are just info I'm aware of myself. I will try to keep it updated with any questions asked in the comments.
Included are General questions, Demo info, Gameplay info, QOL info, and Crossplay/Multiplayer info.
EDIT: All updated now, if I have missed anything obvious I'll update this when I'm made aware.. thearcan feel free to do with this thread as you see fit

GENERAL

- When will Outriders be released?

01 April 2021

- What Platforms will Outriders release on?

Outriders will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC (Steam & Epic). Outriders will be released on Stadia at a later date.

- What kind of game is Outriders?

Outriders is a 1 to 3 player, drop-in-drop-out co-op, third-person-perspective shooter set in an original dark and desperate sci-fi universe.

- Where can I watch the Outriders reveal trailer?

Right here. This is also on their official channel with plenty more in depth info on the game.

- Is there an official discord?

Yes here

- Is Outriders a Free-to-Play game?

No. Outriders will only require a one-off purchase of the game.

- Is Outriders a Games-As-A-Service?

No - Outriders will be a complete experience out of the box.

- Will Outriders feature Micro-transactions?

No. However the pre order bonus will be able to be purchased separately afaik.

- Will Outriders support Smart Delivery on Xbox? Will we get a free upgrade to PlayStation 5?

Yes. Anyone who purchases the game for Xbox One or PlayStation 4, will get a free upgrade to Xbox One X, Xbox Series S and PlayStation 5 respectively.

- Will Outriders support Cross-Play?

Yes. Outriders will Fully support cross-play, meaning you will be able to explore Enoch with any of your friends on any other platform. You can play Outriders from start to finish with your friends regardless of what system they own.

- Will there be DLC?

At this time we don't know, if the game does well, hopefully we will see more of Enoch.

- Will my PC be able to handle Outriders?

See here

- Why was the game delayed?

See the official response here

DEMO

- When does the Demo release?

25th February 2021

- What will the demo include?

Final details have not been announced yet. But we know it will be the first few hours of the game.

- Will my demo progress carry over to the full game?

Yes - but there will be progress caps in place. At this moment in time we know there will be a level cap, world tier cap and story progress will be capped.

- Will the demo feature crossplay?

Yes

GAMEPLAY

- Can I play all classes?

Yes, you should have 6 character slots available.

- Will I have to replay the story for each class?

Yes, as far as we know.

- Does each class have multiple skills/powers?

Yes each class has 8 skills total. Only 3 can be equipped at one time.

- Why can we only play in groups of 3?

PCF found that groups of 3 hit the sweet spot for balancing, optimisation and visibility, especially with some much going on in battle.

- How does difficulty scaling work?

The game utilises a world tier system. There are a total of 15 World tiers. In essence the more you kill, the longer you survive, the higher the world tier you unlock. Each world tier increases difficulty, but also your rewards. This can be adjusted up (to the max you have unlocked) and down at any point.

- How does endgame work?

Endgame consists of 14 expeditions, all fresh content. In essence, get to the end as fast as you can on the highest difficulty you can for the most rewards. See more here

- What if I miss a loot drop?

There is an auto loot feature in game.

- Why don't enemies drop loot in expeditions?

They do. It all just goes to the chest at the end. See clarification here

- Does that mean if I fail an expedition I don't get any loot?

No, as per the previous linked comment, you still get this loot even if you fail.

- Can I transfer loot to another character?

Yes, there is a stash system.

- How does crating and mods work?

See Here Approx 16 mins in.

- Is there an in game achievement system?

The game will feature accolade system which is something in between achievements and battle pass. It will reward you for doing actions you would normally do in gameplay with small cosmetic rewards so if you need extra motivation to repeat few side quests and spend more time in the game here it is. The system will give only cosmetic rewards and there is no way to buy your progress, it is also completely optional but completionists can have nice fun with it.

- How do armour stats work?

See an official breakdown here

- What weapons can we use?

From what we have seen you have Pistol side arms, and equip 2 primary weapons. So far we have seen Assault rifles, LMG's, Shotguns, Sub Machine guns and a variety of rifles including Snipers.

- Can I play the whole game solo?

Yes, the number of enemies etc scale depending on how many people are in your party. Expeditions are designed for 3 players, but should still be doable solo. See clarification here

- Is there PVP?

No.

QUALITY OF LIFE

- Will there be in game comms?

No - at this time there is no in built chat or ping system. See further explanation as to why this is here

- Will there be loadouts?

No, not at this time.

- Will there be a transmog system?

No, not at this time.

- Are there colourblind settings?

Yes, I believe so.

- What are the next gen upgrades for Xbox Series X and PS5?

Nothing has been confirmed yet, but we can expect some optimisation benefits etc. Suggestions that we should know for certain by the release of the demo.

- Do I have to be online to play?

Unless something has changed recently, I believe you have to be online to play.

- Is there a mass dismantle system in game?

Yes

- Is there an item protection system in game, such as item locking?

No.

- Will players be able to mod/hack their saves etc?

Alls saves are server side, so this shouldn't be theoretically possible.

CROSSPLAY/MULTIPLAYER

- Can I turn crossplay off?

Yes

- Is there a social hub?

There are hubs in game. However they will only be accessed by yourself and those within your matchmaking party.

-How does joining a friend work?

The game operates on a host based system. You join and play in the hosts world. Host migration systems should be in place if the host dc's. You can join any friend at any point once the prologue is complete.

- How does scaling work when I join a friend?

As you are in the hosts game, you play at the level and world tier setting they are at. So you will either feel OP or under geared if you join low/high level friends retrospectively. See more here

- How does loot work in a friends game?

Loot is instance based for each player. Loot drops depending on enemy level, which is in turn based on world tier. So if you are joining friends playing on substantially lower or higher world tiers. Loot drops in essence won't be much use to you.

- How will I invite cross play friends?

They have said they will utilise a friend code system.

- Is there a cross save system?

Only between similar systems - eg Xbox one to Xbox series x, or PS4 to PS5. You will not be able to cross save between platforms, eg from Xbox to PC, or Xbox to PS.

Competitive Budget Deck Masterpost (January 2021)

i'm starting to feel like modern Yugioh is a clown car, and every time the banlist apprehends the first few clowns that lead the format, 4-5 more step out to take their place. we didn't even have Linkross in handcuffs yet before VFD took the wheel and Vanity's Ruler got into the passenger seat. happy new year

This post will give recommendations for decks that can generally do well while generally remaining in the $50 to $150 price range.

Estimated pricing includes a sample completed main deck and some or all of an extra deck, but no side.
Pricing is based mainly on singles and you can easily save a lot of money by buying cores for most of these lists all at once.
Decks were chosen usually based on having some degree of success in recent TCG formats.
- These deck choices and rankings are heavily based on online tournaments such as Konami's Remote Duel Invitationals, LCS, and other assorted online events.
- Performance on DuelingBook's ranked ladder also slightly factors in to the placement of these decks, with data taken from Ygoscope.
Many decklists will include some middle-range power cards that might drive the price point up, which can be cut for players on an extreme budget. For instance, a set of Ash is $25-30 currently, but Ash is included in many of these lists as a generic staple that players might already own.
Conversely, decklists are oftentimes easily upgraded by adding power cards such as Forbidden Droplet and Triple Tactics Talent.

Decks are grouped into four "tiers" and listed alphabetically by tier. Decklists are built prioritizing simplicity and effectiveness on a budget. Not all of them are perfect, but this post is not an F. Unless there is a particularly offensive deckbuilding error that you want to point out, please don't use this thread to nitpick at the sample decklists. Don't feel obligated to stick to the sample lists either; you should experiment and play cards that feel comfortable and/or optimal to you.
Feel free to leave suggestions for budget players, whether it's a budget tech choice for one of the decks on this list or whether it's a different deck that you think can compete in the coming months.
[Last updated: 23 Jan 2021]
Previous version: October 2020 Post

S Tier

The best bang for your buck. Decks in this category have the capacity to top premier events, though they're almost always supplemented with expensive power cards.

Drytron

Price: $100 Imgur | DuelingBook

New Ritual-based combo deck from Genesis Impact that has a lot of recursion from the Graveyard, boasting a strong grind game as well as potent turn 1 boards that can win the game outright.
The level 1 Drytron cards tribute other Drytron cards or Ritual cards in hand/field, so this deck abuses Cyber Angel Benten's lack of a once per turn clause to gain a ton of resources and search a lot of power LIGHT Fairy cards, such as Herald of Orange Light and Vanity's Ruler.
Drytron Nova is an automatic 3-of inclusion in every competitive version of this deck, but also currently sits at around $40 each in NA. Novas are a massive boost in consistency, though the deck is honestly still playable without it, and is quite cheap otherwise. With even one copy of Nova, you should look to also include three copies of Drytron Fafnir (their Field Spell) which can search Nova as well.
The absence of Nova + Fafnir from the main leaves a lot of space to be filled. There are many ways you can go about this.
- The sample list plays a small Pre-Prep engine with Herald of Perfection. It's very simple to play, especially if you're unfamiliar with the deck, and helps raise your overall ceiling - athough optimized competitive builds have generally moved away from Pre-Prep.
- Another viable Ritual engine is the Megalith engine, which provides numerous options. These variants generally also suffer from consistency issues, made worse by the lack of Novas in the budget version. Less consistent access to Alpha means less consistent usage of extra Ritual monsters.
- You could play cards that search Drytron monsters in an attempt to patch up consistency. Examples include Where Arf Thou, or normal summons that fetch Drytrons such as Cyber Dragon Core (getting Emergency) and Mathematician. Also viable is Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin, which is an interesting tech in Drytron that helps you beat handtraps like Droll & Lock Bird.
- Finally, you can always just play more handtraps or generic power cards.
This deck is a relatively new deck, and is getting support in Lightning Overdrive, which might indicate that it's relatively safe from the next banlist. However, there's no telling what Konami will do, so don't take my word as gospel.

Virtual World

Price: $150 Imgur | DuelingBook

Combo deck with an extra deck toolbox, using Synchro and Xyz monsters to break boards or to win the game with True King of All Calamities and their recurring boss monster, Shenshen. The Virtual World monsters have a shared restriction which means that Link monsters are usually not played in this deck at all.
Most of the main deck VW monsters can dump other VW cards from Deck to GY, and their continuous spell Qinglong is a searcher in the GY. Combined with Virtual World Mai-Hime - Lulu's ability to search for VW cards as well, the deck is consistent at doing the same combos and executing its gameplan almost every game, as most combinations of 2 Virtual World cards result in some type of combo.
Despite being one of the top decks in the format, this deck is also quite cheap. Staples aside, the most pricey card in the main is Lulu at around $18-20 each. Can you get away with fewer copies of her? Probably, but you really want to get 3 due to Desires, and her being one of the best cards in your deck.
Saw success immediately after PHRA release, even in the previous combo-infested format where Virtual World took the most representation and top cut spots at LCS 8, eventually winning the entire tournament. Post-banlist, they also took the most top cut spots and then won LCS 9, versus an entirely different playing field full of Zoodiac, Drytron, and Eldlich variants.
Recent combos using Chaofeng, Phantom of the Yang Zing to search either one of the Virtual World tuners (Lulu or Laolao) have opened up some new combo routes that make Foolish Burial Goods a lot more forgiving to play, allowing you to still end on impressive boards despite using Qinglong somewhat suboptimally. On the other hand, Chaofeng's price also spiked quite heavily after LCS 9, so you may not want to play it.
Non-budget players will first and foremost want to add Zeus to the Extra Deck, as it helps greatly with going second and also dealing with threats like Dragoon. Another common inclusion is Triple Tactics Talents, though this card is by no means mandatory in the deck, and has also seen a decline in popularity lately.

A Tier

Strong decks, but limited either by a lack of access to powerful staples or by the natural ceiling of the deck. You could still top a regional with one of these decks on a good day.

Altergeist

Price: $75+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Control + backrow deck with incredible recursion and the ability to come back from almost no resources
Altergeist have seen sparse success ever since FLOD, and are a respectable budget contender. They've have had a fairly modest showing online, and saw recent success with a top 8 finish at LCS 9. That deck was a Dogmatika variant piloted by Lars Junginger, playing the recently released Artemis, the Magistus Moon Maiden to make it slightly easier to summon Ecclesia in some hands.
The Dogmatika engine is viable even on a modest budget. It's possible to simply play Dogmatika Punishment as a powerful trap capable of utilizing your extra deck, and even a single copy of Ecclesia (around $20 each right now) goes a long way for improving the power of this package. Of course, the deck is also perfectly playable as pure Altergeist.
Budget players are most hurt by a lack of Pot of Extravagance, Infinite Impermanence, and Evenly Matched. The first three of these cards have reprints, but none are quite cheap enough yet to be easily accessible on a budget.
The extra deck is extremely flexible (as Altergeist are typically played with Extravagance, anyway) and several options are simply tech cards, such as Elder Entity N'tss.
Main deck trap choices are also extremely flexible. Torrential is quite powerful against Virtual World, but this could easily be swapped out for many other cards depending on your budget, available card pool, and locals demographics.
The release of Blazing Vortex in early February also brings along an incredibly powerful staple card in Pot of Prosperity. Altergeist, along with virtually every other deck that enjoys running Pot of Extravagance currently, will appreciate Prosperity as well. Many OCG decks are choosing to play both Extrav + Prosperity in their decklists. Of course, Prosperity is also a Secret Rare, and is virtually guaranteed to be around $100, so this is not applicable on a budget.

Prank-Kids

Price: $150 Imgur | DuelingBook

Floaty combo/control deck with 4 maindeck Prank-Kids that all float into any other Prank-Kid when used for a Link or Fusion summon
Got a great boost in Phantom Rage with Prank-Kids Meow-Meow-Mu, a Link 1 Prank-Kid monster that makes this deck incredibly consistent and turns any single Prank monster into full combo.
Prank-Kids Place is a little pricey, currently sitting at around $17 per copy in NA. While it contributes to your overall consistency (as it's equivalent to any Prank name), you can definitely get away with cutting copies of Place if your budget is tight.
Notably took 1st place at the Canadian Remote Duel Invitational in mid-January, piloted by Hanko Chow.
This deck appreciates the inclusion of Predaplant Verte Anaconda (currently over $30 apiece in NA) which can dump Thunder Dragon Fusion to help field Battle Butler, your main win condition. It was dropped from the provided list for budget reasons, but it's a great inclusion if you have a copy already. In conjunction with cards like Link Spider, it also improves your ability to play through disruption and through Nibiru.
This deck has many characteristics of a great deck, but suffers from similar problems as Zoodiac in that it struggles to play through disruption on your normal summon, or cards like Ash negating your first Prank-Kid effect. The inclusion of Polymerization in the main deck helps to combat this, but also popular are builds that don't play Poly at all and instead just load the main deck with handtraps and powerful staples like Forbidden Droplet.
Pot of Desires is included in this example main deck to help boost consistency and overall power, but some players opt not to run it.

Salamangreat

Price: $50+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Link-based midrange deck with a lot of recursion and a special in-archetype technique, where 1 Link Monster is used as the entire Link material to summon another copy of that monster, granting bonus effects
The deck is somewhat halfway between control and combo, establishing respectable boards turn 1 with a fairly compact engine, allowing many handtraps to be played. Their real strength comes in turn 3 and beyond, where their arsenal of free summons from the GY, coupled with their stellar resource recycling, easily overwhelm the opponent.
The majority of the deck is dirt cheap and is mostly able to be built with commons from SOFU+SAST supplementing 3 copies of Structure Deck: Soulburner.
Accesscode Talker is a huge part of this deck's success, able to steal games easily with the help of Update Jammer. Accesscode is not at all affordable on a budget, so the sample list plays Zeroboros instead. Owning one copy of Accesscode is a tremendous improvement to this deck's strength.
Salamangreat has found little competitive success in bigger online tournaments this format, but still regularly performs well in smaller events, remote duel locals, and the like. It's also a fairly safe choice, as it's somewhat unlikely we see further Salamangreat hits on the next banlist.
The provided list plays Rivalry + Strike, a potent option allowing you to sometimes win games even into established boards. Strike is quite solid in the current format, as even the combo decks don't usually end on ways to punish a lot of set backrow.
Parallel eXceed is an optional card, and can be cut in favor of more backrow or handtraps. On one hand, it allows you to more easily link climb when going second, and can easily add a Dweller or Bagooska to your board going first (Dweller is very good right now, as well). On the other hand, players may prefer to run more defensive cards instead of eXceed.

Subterror

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Subterrors are a control deck with a focus on flipping monsters face-down and generating constant advantage with Subterror Guru.
Pure Guru control is the most played variant, and is more or less a stun deck that tries to abuse Guru as much as possible. While most Guru lists online are Numeron and/or Dragoon hybrids, the pure version saw some success earlier this format at the Benelux Remote Duel Extravaganza, finishing top 4. You can watch that deck profile here, and the sample list is generally based off of that list.
- While Dragoon isn't budget-friendly, the Numeron engine is very accessible for little cost, and is a viable variant of this deck as well. Numeron cards aim to make Number S0: Utopic ZEXAL going first or simply OTK going second. S0 is an extremely powerful card that can prevent the opponent from playing the game entirely if it resolves. If you are interested in this version, you can check the Subterror list on the previous budget post.
The sample list doesn't have a complete extra deck, mainly because it doesn't play Extravagance and you barely go into the Extra Deck to begin with. Relinquished Anima is a decent option if you can shell out the $7-8 for it, since sometimes you can turn Fiendess into Anima. Apart from that, provided Extra Deck options include anti-Maximus cards for the Dogmatika matchup, and Aussa + Zoodiac Drident in case you face a Zoodiac player. Taking their Zoo monster and then slapping your Drident on top can be potent.
This deck usually plays Extravagance over Desires, but Desires is quite a serviceable replacement. Similarly to Altergeist, this deck also enjoys Pot of Prosperity post-BLVO.

B Tier

Like the above category, but generally weaker, less consistent, and/or impacted harder by a lack of access to a certain card(s).

Dinosaurs

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Dinosaurs are an aggressive deck with consistent access to Evolzar Laggia/Dolkka and Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, a formidable boss monster with incredible OTK power and disruption.
Dinosaur's strength tends to be largely meta-dependent, particularly how well it can counter the existing top decks. During the previous two combo-infested formats with decks like Dragon Link and Adamancipator running around, Dinos had several extremely impressive showing at events, such as TeamSamuraiX1's win at the first NA Remote Duel Invitational, as well as all three first-place players at LCS 7 (a 3v3 event) playing Dino.
In the current format, Dinosaurs are struggling. The Virtual World matchup is difficult, and it's hard for Dinosaur to build to beat all of VW, Drytron, Eldlich variants, and the plethora of rogue decks running around. Additionally, Mystic Mine is not very potent this format as both Virtual World and Eldlich have in-engine outs to the card, which is another blow to the Dinosaur strategy. Finally, the popularity of handtraps like Skull Meister and Artifact Lancea in the side or even the main deck are also reasons this deck has declined.
The provided variant still plays Mine, as it has utility breaking boards. Deckout is a much less reliable strategy against VW and Eldlich, but you can still stall for some turns until you can make a push for game. The addition of Cosmic Cyclone is also an attempt at neutering cards like Chuche and Conquistador.
If you wanted to build this deck without Mines, you would have to find replacements for quite a few cards (and frankly, Dinosaur does not have very many good ones). Most power staples are not budget, such as Lightning Storm, Talents, Droplet, etc. This deck also really appreciates Pot of Extravagance, which still sits barely out of budget range at around $25 each in NA.
Budget Dino must also deal with the lack of Animadorned Archosaur, an extremely powerful addition to the deck that opens up many new combos. However, sitting at around $60 per copy, the card is inaccessible on a budget.
The provided list plays the Simorgh combo, bringing out the WIND barrier statue on turn 1 to steal games. Though a full extra deck is provided, very few cards are actually needed, as the deck typically plays Extravagance anyway.

Dragon Link

Price: $100-150+ (depending on Extra Deck) Imgur | DuelingBook

Dragon Link is a Link-centric combo deck that was a dominant force in the meta for about half a year, but lost a lot of resilience and power with the recent bans to Linkross and Dragon Buster Destruction Sword.
The provided budget version of this deck actually has a ton of extra deck flexibility due to not needing to play Synchro/Link cards related to the Halq/Kross package, meaning that you can play Knightmares, anti-Dogmatika cards, etc. This also means that the budget version doesn't actually care about the Linkross ban at all.
This deck has seen a great deal of variation online, playing a variety of different engines and tech cards. A few of these include Vylon Cube + Smoke Grenade, the Rose Dragons, several different Dragonmaid cards, and even an FTK variant involving Earthbound Immortal Aslla piscu. However, few of these are viable for budget players, especially if you do not own a copy of Halqifibrax.
An interesting option the deck has is to use Union Carrier to equip handtraps such as Artifact Lancea. On the opponent's turn, Hieratic Seal can be used to return the handtrap to your hand, making it live immediately. This is something you may want to consider in the main deck if you frequently have to deal with decks like Virtual World and Dinosaur. Another option is to equip Ally of Justice Cycle Reader to Carrier (they're both machines) and then bounce it to hand, as a weapon against Drytron. Carrier isn't in the example list, but this is a really interesting option to consider.
With Linkross out of the picture, playing Fibrax alone is an option if you either already own a copy or can afford the $20 needed to obtain one. You may have to retool your combos to incorporate Fiber, but the card can definitely add flexibility and resilience to your deck if you use it well.

Paleozoic Frogs

Price: $50+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Backrow-heavy control deck that summons its Traps to the field as monsters and pressures the opponent with Toadally Awesome
After being absent from the budget post for about a year, Paleo makes its triumphant return as its boss monster, Toad, returns to 3. Toad's reprint in Maximum Gold also brought this card down from $20 each to just a few bucks, making the entire deck extremely cheap.
As a control deck, Paleo suffers from more weaknesses compared to Eldlich, Altergeist, and Subterror. Notably, the engine tends to bleed advantage unless you've managed to maintain access to Swap Frog, and you can be quickly outpaced by stronger decks. However, in games where you can establish a Toad early, or where you can maintain control with your backrow, you can do quite well.
Paleo saw a surprising amount of success in various remote duel events this format, though some of that success is likely due to the format being unexplored and some sort of "new toy syndrome" as Toad recently went from 2 to 3.
Paleo struggles to out Dragoon, especially without access to Ice Dragon's Prison, a $40 card. An interesting option catching on in the meta lately is the use of Mirror Force cards, particularly Quaking and Storming, as they both pressure Dragoon. Still, the card puts quite a lot of pressure on this deck.
Speaking of Dragoon, some Paleo players opt to play that package in this deck as well. Swap Frog is a one card Dragoon as you can simply dump Ronin, turn Swap into Almiraj, and then revive Ronin to make Verte from there.
Fiend Griefing is presented as an interesting option which is very decent in the current meta, particularly vs Drytron. Combining it with Absolute King Back Jack is a classic combo that Paleo played a long time ago in 2017, during early Zoo formats.

Shaddoll (Magistus)

Price: $100+, can be closer to $50 with fewer copies of Schism Imgur | DuelingBook

Classic Fusion-based archetype from 2014, debuting in Duelist Alliance. Somewhat of a midrange combo deck that can slow the game down with El Shaddoll Winda or be very aggressive with El Shaddoll Construct
Winda is a troublesome floodgate that many decks struggle to out, especially combo decks such as Drytron. Shaddoll cards are currently played in several Dogmatika variants due to the sheer power of Winda and the utility of Shaddoll Schism.
The current meta is favorable for Shaddoll not only due to Winda being effective vs Drytron, but also due to Ariel being very strong against a large chunk of the format, including Eldlich variants. Her ability to banish 3 cards from the GY is so strong that some decks are splashing in Sinister Shadow Games + Ariel just for that option, which we saw played in some of the 60-card Eldlich decks at LCS 9.
- The growing popularity of Shaddoll cards has also caused Shaddoll Schism to go up in price substantially. Currently, it's around $17, but it may continue to rise.
The deck's biggest problem has always been its inability to consistently resolve a fusion spell on turn 1. Invoked Shaddoll was a popular hybrid in earlier formats, but with the release of the Magistus archetype in GEIM, Shaddolls got access to Rilliona and Magistus Invocation. This is an improvement since Magistus Invocation can fuse from hand and field whereas the regular Invocation can only fuse from hand when summoning Shaddolls. Additionally, Artemis provides a super convenient way for the deck to turn any Shaddoll into a LIGHT monster, which is important for summoning Construct.
While the full Dogmatika package is very expensive due to Nadir Servant being a $75 card, one option is to play just one copy of Ecclesia (around $20) along with Maximus and a playset of Dogmatika Punishment. Maximus and Punishment have a ton of synergy in the Shaddoll deck in conjunction with Apkallone's GY effect, and this combination is deadly even on a budget.
Other normal summons such as Mathematician and even Gale Dogra are potent on this deck, and can be played in addition to Rilliona or as a replacement for her. Yet another option is to run 1 copy of the now-cheap Eldlich the Golden Lord as a LIGHT monster for Shaddoll Fusion that can easily revive itself.
Another popular variant is a very trap-heavy list, sometimes cutting the Magistus cards entirely. PAK and SirEmanon's YouTube channels both have their own takes on this, if you're interested.

Unchained

Price: $50+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Floaty destruction-based archetype that generates advantage when its cards are destroyed, enabling its gimmick of using your opponent's monsters to Link Summon.
Can be built to go first or to go second quite effectively. Since going second is very difficult this format, the provided list aims to go first, playing a bunch of trap cards.
Fairly modest online performance, doing alright at smaller events and more recently finishing top 8 at the second YuGiJoe online series as well as occasional Luxury events. After the December banlist, Unchained has rapidly gained popularity in online remote duel events, and is one of the more prominent rogue decks this format. This success could be because the format is generally slower compared to previous ones, and many destruction-based cards such as Torrential Tribute are very popular currently, which this deck enjoys.
Mega-Tin reprints of Abomination's Prison as well as their Link 2 have helped make this deck a great deal more affordable. I:P Masquerena being more affordable is also a nice boost, though it's by no means essential in this deck.
This deck's best weapon is its opponents being unprepared for it. Playing improperly into backrow or Unchained floats can very quickly be fatal. It also matches up decently into some backrow decks as well as Dogmatika variants, which rely on destruction-based removal from Dogmatika Punishment and Elder Entity N'tss.

C Tier

Decks in this category have the capability to be just as good as the ones above at times, but often tend to suffer from multiple problems including consistency and power.

Burning Abyss

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Versatile control-based Graveyard toolbox deck that has been swinging in and out of meta relevance since its release way back in 2014.
Gradually got more and more cards back from the banlist, with Cir and Graff being unlimited on the December 2020 list. The deck is now more or less "full power" with the exception of Beatrice, who is still limited.
The deck aims to establish Beatrice on turn 1 backed up with trap cards. The BA cards as well as Beatrice are extremely floaty, so this deck can put up quite a fight in grind games. Fiend Griefing is a solid card in the current meta, and is excellent in the Burning Abyss deck as you can send Farfa for further disruption, Graff/Scarm for followup, or Back Jack for more traps.
This deck was frequently mixed with Phantom Knight cards back in 2016 (often called PK Fire). Nowadays, Phantom Knight decks are typically either built pure or with an extremely compact BA engine. While it's possible to play a more dedicated hybrid build, the release of PK Torn Scales combined with most key BA cards being unlimited means that it's just better to focus on one or the other.
Many other options are playable - Desires for draw power, playing more traps, more handtraps, etc. Consider Needle Ceiling over Torrential as it can be harder to pull off, but combos better with Trap Trick. Players with access to Ice Dragon's Prison should play it, and adventurous duelists can even opt to play Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss.
As a deck easily capable of churning out Rank 3 Xyzs, you also have easy access to Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS Sky Thunder, one of the most powerful extra deck cards in the format. If this is an accessible option, it should be played.

Sky Striker

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Spell-heavy control deck that usually maintains only one monster on the field at a time, in the extra monster zone.
Formerly an extremely dominant control deck, modern-day Striker no longer accrues infinite resources through resolving Engage multiple times, but instead is easily able to kill you with an Accesscode Talker push after whittling down your LP and resources for a turn or two. The standard combo involves laddering from Halqifibrax -> Selene -> Accesscode and then dismantling your opponent's board before swinging for game.
You may have noticed a problem: if you're on a budget, you can't use Accesscode. This is a pretty big blow to the deck's overall strength. Some players opt for alternatives such as the Utopia Double package, which Zoé Weber played in the second EU Remote Duel Invitational last format. Another option is to simply not run it at all, and close games the old-fashioned way.
In previous formats, this deck was oftentimes played like an anti-meta going second deck, packing tons of removal cards and usually 3 copies of Mystic Mine in the main deck. In the current format, this strategy is a lot more difficult due to several factors - it's very hard to go second this format in general, and Mine is a lot less effective vs the top decks right now.
Instead, the sample list plays a going-first strategy with powerful trap cards like There Can Be Only One and Solemn Strike. It's possible to build this deck to go second, but you'd probably want to play board breakers instead of trap cards, and potentially also maindeck PSY-Framegear Gamma.
Yet another way to play this deck involves (surprise) Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon and multiple copies of Red-Eyes Fusion. Instead of using cards like Widow Anchor and Afterburners to muscle through disruption and stick a Mystic Mine on the field, you use them to get to your Dragoon and either win the game immediately or put yourself in a position where your opponent can't play through the Dragoon disrupt.
Roze is the most expensive card in this list. If your budget is tight, you can definitely cut her down to 1.

Zoodiac

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Xyz-focused deck with a gimmick allowing you to use any one Zoodiac as the entire Xyz material requirement for another Zoodiac. This lets you stack Zoo Xyz monsters on top of each other, making use of their effects.
Plays a compact engine combined with around 20 slots dedicated to handtraps, traps, and draw power. This deck is also commonly played as a hybrid deck, oftentimes with Eldlich and sometimes with Dogmatika cards. Both of these options are quite expensive, so they are not shown.
The deck's strength in competitive play comes almost entirely from Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS Sky Thunder, an extremely powerful Xyz monster that Zoodiac can effortlessly make due to Zoodiac Boarbow. Zoo is also easily able to summon Zeus with many materials, allowing it to repeatedly nuke the board.
Budget Zoo without Zeus is extremely weak by comparison. Relying solely on Drident + handtraps is not a reliable win condition, so cards like Parallel eXceed and Pot of Avarice are included in the sample list to give this deck a boost. While Megaclops is a troublesome boss monster in some matchups, the big three decks (Drytron, Virtual World, and Eldlich) generally don't have much trouble dealing with it.
Even with Zeus, the deck has been struggling in the current competitive meta. Noteworthy is its performance at LCS 9, where out of a whopping 51 Zoodiac variants that entered the tournament, only 1 survived until top 16.

Up-And-Coming

Decks to watch out for, oftentimes due to recent online success or new support being announced. Some might also be decks that could potentially be on the main body of the post, but need a little more time to prove themselves.

Tri-Brigade

Price: $100 (for now) Imgur | DuelingBook

Link-focused deck that plays a variety of Beast, Beast-Warrior, and Winged Beast monsters. The maindeck Tri-Brigades cheat out powerful Link monsters, provided your GY is set up. This deck also trivially access the Simorgh link, which can sometimes seal games on its own through the WIND Barrier Statue.
In the current format, Tri-Brigade has seen fairly sparse success, usually mixed with Zoodiac. However, BLVO gives us Tri-Brigade Kitt, a great boost to this deck and a fantastic combo piece.
Further support in LIOV and beyond is also very promising, making this deck a potentially solid investment for the future.
The Tri-Brigade core is currently quite cheap, but this could change in the future depending on hype and the market.
owo

Traptrix

Price: $100-150 Imgur | DuelingBook

Control deck with an extremely powerful Link 1 monster, Traptrix Sera, that pumps out constant advantage.
The sample list incorporates a very small Dogmatika engine. Dogmatika Punishment itself is very cheap, and is one of the best generic traps in the game right now. Just 1 copy of Ecclesia (around $20) provides a substantial power boost to this mini-engine, as dumping one copy of Titaniklad with Punishment and grabbing an Ecclesia for next turn is extremely powerful. Another option is to dump El Shaddoll Apkallone, then adding and discarding Ariel in order to trigger her effect and banish 3 cards, which is insane value.
If you can't get Ecclesia, you could simply play just Punishment as a generic trap. Another option is to play pure Traptrix, incorporating more power traps/handtraps, and quite frequently the Utopia Double package as well.
This deck is definitely still getting support, as LIOV brings a new Link 2 and main deck monster.

Plunder Patroll

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Pirate archetype with ridiculous recursion and a unique tag-out and equip mechanic based on Attributes being used in the game.
The pirates become equips for one of (currently) three Patrollships, extra deck monsters that can all discard Plunder Patroll cards in hand to fuel powerful effects. The ships become stronger when manned (equipped with) a Plunder card, with bonuses such as ignition effects becoming quick effects, or being able to replace the discarded card with a new one from the deck.
Many Plunder lists play Forbidden Droplet, as it has great synergy with the cards. Without Droplet, you could fill the space with several different options. This deck chooses to play the Undine package, but you can also go for cards like Foolish Burial Goods, Salvage, Silent Angler, Tenyi Spirit - Shthana, Toadally Awesome + Bahamut Shark, or just more generic staples.
This deck is getting at least one more support card in LIOV, that being Ravenwing. Many people speculate that they'll also get another Patrollship of a new attribute, which would be a huge buff to the deck.

Honorable Mentions

Megalith, Madolche, Pendulum decks, Cyber Dragon, Orcust, Mermail Atlantean, Magical Musketeers, Crusadia (Guardragon), ABC, D/D, Generaider, and more - Decks that are fairly decent but have been left off of the post to make room for other decks that have seen more recent success or have fewer budget resources online.
Dragonmaid, Eldlich, Infernoid, Invoked variants, HERO, etc - Decks that are pretty good but are sorta in limbo due to some expensive individual cards, such as Chamber Dragonmaid, Cursed Eldland, Invocation, etc.
Cubics, Phantasm, Chain Burn, Evilswarm, Yosenju, Dinomist, and much, much more - Unfortunately, there is not enough room to cover every single decent, super-cheap deck.

I hope to keep this post updated for the foreseeable future. Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions.

[NAFA][Poly] All about NAFA for prospective students! (mainly SOAD stuff)

Hi there! NAFA grad from COVID batch here! I previously wrote tips to not waste time at NAFA. Currently studying in NUS. If you're looking for post O levels/ITE options, look no further! 4 years ago, I attended NAFA's open house after receiving my O level results and back then I was as clueless as the many DMs I've received asking about NAFA ;) . So I'm making this post to clear those doubts!
Edit: Added academic calendar to general curriculum and important degree update

Content

Things to note before entering NAFA

What is NAFA and who is it for
Available Courses
When and how to apply
Application Timeline
Financial Aid

During your study

Useful Acronyms
Life at NAFA
Understanding NAFA's SOAD Standard
General curriculum
Electives
Using workshops/Loaning of equipment
Internship
Overseas Immersion/School Exchange Programme
CCA

Post-Diploma

Furthering studies at NAFA
Furthering studies at a local university
Finding Work

Things to note before entering NAFA

[1] What is NAFA and who is it for?
NAFA, the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts is Singapore's pioneering art school. It is a private arts institution. It provides diploma studies with a study duration of 3 years just like poly. The special thing about NAFA is that it provides 1-year degree programmes which any student (usually from relevant diploma courses) can pick up.
Well, we always say 'art is subjective', it is a freedom of expression. The school is really open to anyone (and that is on the account that you have a portfolio or passed the test). Literally, you can have aunties and uncles as your classmates! You also have people doing art because it's fun but in all seriousness do not sign up if that's what you think. I'd like to think of NAFA as a school that guides you in the beginning and later on they just kind of let everyone be independent learners. Anybody can say that NAFA teaches you the foundation but they do not intend to fully teach you long term or up to a professional level. The school is excellent for people who have existing art skills (you've won SYF, art awards, distinction in art before you were even 17 years old) and wish to be a local artist. It is also great for people who are passionate and have some sort of basic skill or are/have developing skills already (that's me!) however this group should avoid Fine Arts. You can also be passionate and start on a blank slate but be prepared to work doubly hard for the grades. The school is not competitive, it depends on talent to stand out.
Do not come if you are doing for the sake of the diploma because the difficulty of NAFA's diploma is no joking matter. Dropping out is common in every course and you do not wish to contribute to that. That is also the whole point of NAFA charging exorbitant school fees so that you don't run away. Many people actually bet their future on NAFA because they couldn't go to poly/uni course of their choice and it ends up being wasted because it's not what they wanted! You may have heard people of saying that the school's standard is trash but the truth is, it's not the school's problem 100% of the time.
For students looking to enter NAFA Foundation Programme, it's still new and dodgy. I strongly advise you guys to take O levels and head to Poly instead if you still wish to pursue further education at local universities. I personally find no point in skipping a year and getting L1R4>25 with an O level cert where you might've passed math seems to be a more lucrative choice to use for entering NAFA. The only benefit you're getting from the programme is a debt $$$.
Entry requirements:
O Level: L1R4 equal or less than 25 points excluding English (can use CCA points)
ITE: Full-time Higher Nitec or Nitec
Other Local/International Admission Requirements
Important note:
NAFA diplomas do not equate with polytechnic diplomas.
NAFA being the oldest art school does not mean that it is the best place to go instead of Laselle.

[2] Available Courses
One misconception is that NAFA has double diploma programmes for 3D Design. I'd like to announce that it is false. The school is not capable of teaching 2 types of diploma at a time but rather mash it up. So if you intend to take my course for example Diploma in Design (Landscape and Architecture), it is usually the 1st word that is mainly taught which is 'Landscape'.

List of courses:
School of Art and Design
3D Design

Design & media

Fine Art

Fashion Studies

School of Arts Management, Dance and Theatre
Arts Management

Diploma in Arts Management

Dance

Diploma in Dance

Music

Theatre

[3] When and how to apply?
Once you received your results is usually the time applications are open. Local and international students have until March to apply. It varies annually. More here ->How to apply
Method of Application: Online portfolio submission or physical admission test
Neither is better than the other. You method depends on whether you can show what you have within a given deadline.

Online Portfolio Submission
Minimum 10 images, various mediums allowed and a short writeup of 100 words.
1.Make the portfolio for the course that you want
To make them pick you directly for the course, make it look like you are built for the course.
2. Have a variety of work
Fine Arts doesn't only consist of drawings, it can also include some sort of sculpture or performance work. Same goes for the other departments. Click here for what each course requires. If you wish to showcase a single type of work because you are unable to show more, it can make your portfolio look okay/bad compared to other people.
3. A passionate statement
Only 100 words. Tbh I wrote what I wished to do after my diploma (plans have since changed and it was an odd statement lol). I don't suggest writing about your contribution to the sch because as long as you're a student you're contributing. Make it short and simple.

In case anyone is wondering, my application portfolio was mediocre, showing 11 images consisting of sketches/paintings/photos. If you have a god-tier portfolio because you have that artistic talent, there's a good chance to achieve a 1st-year full-coverage scholarship once you step into NAFA. You can submit whenever you want but my estimated deadline was 2 weeks after applying at the open house which waived my application fees ($70 better treat yourself Haidilao).

Admission Test (if someone has taken the test feel free to provide more info)
The test dates are staggered once per month from January-March. Held in groups. Consists of a drawing test and write-up.
I only know that the drawing test isn't difficult. People who took the test do not intend to submit a portfolio as it's quick and efficient. Nothing much to add on.
Important note:
If you are writing a 2nd choice as a safety net please be cautious. I do not recommend as you may get the 2nd choice instead if the slots for your 1st choice becomes full. They will just shift you to the 2nd choice and that's where the 'appeal' part comes.
Choose to submit a portfolio if you can commit to the deadline, it usually gives you an upper hand over admission test applicants because you're showcasing more.

[4] Application Timeline (I only know O levels if anyone can kindly tell me I'll update)
O levels:
January
Receive results > submit JAE > apply for NAFA
February
Wait for JAE AND NAFA results > receive JAE results 1st > receive NAFA results 2nd
You’ll receive NAFA results before poly starts unless you apply late. I applied during Jan on the day of the open house and got my results mid-end Feb. March is the last month to receive results.

[5] Financial Aid
NAFA Financial Aid
Now, we all know private school isn't cheap and many passionate young souls I've met depend heavily on financial aid like I do. If you're a Singaporean with a tight family income, the bursary is attainable for you. It covers half of the annual school fee. Can only be taken once for each year of study. If you are able to claim the bursary for all your years, you’d pay a total of $7050.
For those who are hoping to start at NAFA but is at a really tight end, you need perfect grades in art and portfolio to be considered a scholarship/merit in your first year. You'll need testimonials and pass the interview. If you ain’t good in art, pass this opportunity however you can work for scholarship/merit during your diploma years. I’d score close to the 4.0 (3.8X) in Year 1 in order to get a scholarship to cover my Year 2 fees.
Other options are the 0% interest study loan by DBS. You can make use of your PSEA which you can also use your sibling account to cover your own sch fees.
Last option but not really one is the student assistantship scheme should you already be a student of NAFA. The pay is peanuts, I would not recommend but it's nice to have a one-liner in your resume that you did some work for the school :).
There are NAFA students with a possibly far worse situation than yours but they are extremely talented and hardworking to end up not paying a single cent. NAFA is really expensive so if you do intend to work to cover the fees, take care of your grades as well. It is not impossible to do so. I chose to not work as I was in a hectic design course and needed to maintain my grade for university.

Next, you would need to understand how the system works.

During your study

[1] Useful Acronyms
SOAD: School of Art and Design (Department)
SOAMDT: School of Arts Management, Dance and Theatre
SOM: School of Music
D&M: Design and Media
FA: Fine Arts
3DD: 3D Design
FS: Fashion Studies
FYP: Final Year Project (used in almost every SOAD course lol)
OIP: Overseas Immersion Programme

[2] Life at NAFA
So you wish to know how life is like at NAFA? First thing, don't expect the same amount of glitz and glamour that exists in polys. It's much quieter where you won't even hear a mouse die.
Because entry to the school is quite easy, the population regularly consists of graduated ITE students (can’t make it to poly/NAFA is the last golden ticket) alongside many international students. O level cert holders are like a small 10% or less. So if you’re young, prepare to take care of the older lot and expect to carry lazy people.
You have to be very committed to the course and can’t skip class. More than 3 times and they start deducting marks. The workload is heavy and even if it comes in small numbers, it is intense. The number of student to lecturer ratio is not a big difference but later on, consultation times may not suffice. Facilities are sufficient unless you’re in a design course. There are CCAs in the sch but not all courses got time for it. Staying in school late is a common culture. Fine Arts students after class just camp in their respective studios and design students would camp till closing 11 pm at the computer lab waiting for renders to finish. Every student will experience staying late and you can say its #lifeatnafa.
The culture here is not as toxic and dramatic as poly but more towards weird because we’re creative artsy-fartsy people. It’s easy to get along with course mates but there’s a chance for things to get somehow cranky along the way. Could be you or your classmate. Everyone is pretty open and wild. There’s a lack of competitiveness which is both good and bad.
There won't be a course that goes without presentations. That's the point of producing works ain't it, to show it off to the audience. Group work to individual work ratio is about 3:6 so if you worry about bad groupmates, don't worry I've faced them too and it can't be helped ;). Carrying other people during group work is also common. NAFA does stand for lazy people what to do. Your complaints hold no power. (Arguably, many students want the school to make entry to the courses more difficult as there seem to be too many bums to handle)
If you're mentally depressed or anything the school does try to help but no legit support system other than the ECG counsellor (which I find it practically useless). Now, the school deals with this quite often so they don't give a damn about your life. Ownself take care ownself is the usual term.

School events anyone can participate:
Open House (1-day Sentosa fun time with other Open House ambassador)
Orientation (has a 1-night camp! Recommend)
NAFA Fun Day
Overseas Immersion Programme (1-3 weeks long, Asian countries. Recommend but need $)
Student Assistantship Programme (1 year-long contract. Peanut pay)

The list of programmes here may not seem much but you can add it in your portfolio (except Fun Day). There may be volunteer work available within some courses itself. Do try to be active
And that's about it. Nothing special just expensive and less fun.

[3] Understanding NAFA's SOAD Standard
Take a look at what past graduates have produced within their 3 years as a student. Only you can judge whether the school is great or the right fit for your goals (in being able to attain this particular level of skill for XXX course once you graduate for example). The best standard can be found under the best graduate tab.
2020 The Grad Expectations
Graduation Showcase

[4] General Curriculum
Academic Calendar
The 1st semester of your study begins at the start of August and usually ends late November or early December depending on the type of assessment received. The 2nd semester begins in January till May. The span of 1 semester is always around 4 months with a 1-week break in between. We don't really have any sort of term 1/2 thing like poly and is much compressed, so breaks are less. However, you do get compensated with a 3-month vacation between years so that's fair.

*Applicable to SOAD only
Year 1
1st Semester: Foundation Study (not the same as NAFA Foundation programme for N level)
+ Basic art and design theory
+General Education
2nd Semester: Course Foundation
+ General Education
+ Basic course theory
(+ Electives)

Year 2
1st Semester: 2nd Set of Course Foundation
+ Intermediate theory
+ 1st project
+ Basic report/essay writing
(+ Electives)
2nd Semester: Last set of Course Foundation
+ Another set of projects
(+ Electives)

Year 3
1st Semester: Internship/~~School project~~ (wouldn't want to get this)
2nd Semester: Final Year project (practically on your own)
+ Report/Essay writing
+ Research and development
(+ Electives, not recommended to do during this semester)

It’s clearly not much different from poly, slightly worse at certain points. Weekly school hours per week will increase each semester e.g year 1 sem 1 is 18hrs a week for classes, next semester you may get an additional 2-4 hrs increase of class time. The longest time I had for class each week was 24hrs, pretty sure the same goes for any SOAD course. Do expect late-night classes. It is inevitable because most lecturers are teaching part-time so do bear with them.
Important note:
For a lighter schedule, do electives early as that's one of the simplest things to do.
The difference in timetable won't affect application to university.

[5] Electives
1 common mistake students commit is not reading the student handbook (from studentnet)/contract on the number of credits required for graduation. They end up finishing their electives during Year 3 Semester 2 which is the time one should focus on their FYP. Start doing your electives once you’re in Year 1 Semester 2. Good planning consists of not stuffing your modules until it’s way past 24hrs/week (also known as overloading). You’re required to do cross-disciplinary modules 2-6 credits worth (meaning not related to your course, if you’re from D&M you have to do either FA/3DD/FS) and course-related electives worth 2-6 credits. Days before module registration, plan out the electives you want to do based on your given timetable and then rush to pick on the day of the module registration with no hesitation to secure your placement. You may have to do an elective that is unfamiliar to you.
My sample plan:
Year 1 sem 1: Can’t choose yet
Year 1 sem 2: Photography (Highly recommend, popular as well but must have time and skill + a friend who's free who be your model). 2 credits
Year 1 sem 2 special term (aka holiday): OIP to Hangzhou. China Academy of Arts for 3 weeks. Considered cross-disciplinary to FA. 3 weeks long. 4 credits
Year 2 sem 1: Intro to Rapid prototyping from 3DD (laser cut/3D print) (didn’t really learn how to use the machine as there are technical officers and I messed up at the end but still passed, great elective for embarrassing yourself if you’re a 3DD student who frequents the workshop ;) ). 2 credits
Year 2 sem 2 - onwards: No more electives can focus on FYP
Important note:
Plan well so you accumulate just nice 120 credits for graduation. No point in exceeding the total credits as you have to pay extra for it. If you miss a few credits for graduation, you will be retained for another semester to finish.
Cheat tip: if you go on the OIP to China only, you instantly get cross-disciplinary credits.

[6] Using Workshops/Loaning of equipment

The 3D workshop at wing B level 1 operates Mon-Fri 8 am to 6 pm but you need permission from the lecturer or Technical officer to use the machinery.
Laser cutting and 3D printing in the 3D workshop operates from Mon-Fri 10:30-4:30 pm and it is based on a first sign up first serve basis. Booking is always done a week prior to the day of actual usage and maximum of 4 people per day (unless you let others share your slot). Every Friday the slate inside the workshop outside the room is wiped clean for students to book for the week ahead. Even if your name is on the booking board and you don't end up cutting, you will get a temporal ban after multiple attempts. Do ask the Technical officer about the laser cutting template as well and follow accordingly when you create the template so as to not cause a problem of cleaning up your drawing which may overtake another timeslot.
Camera equipment for photography/filming can be loaned from a guy named 'Jack'. Priority goes to courses that require it, followed by the photography elective and so on. Loan lasts for a week and extension can be asked for after loan period.
Photography Studio/Darkroom use needs to have a form signed, given to 'Jack' and then approved. Literally, find this guy for all your photography needs.
Fine Art workshop time depends on the course instructor. People from other courses are free to walk in when its empty but usage not possible.

[7] Internships
Usually done in Year 3 Semester 1, this is one of the key semesters every student should complete for it plays a very important role in your portfolio for finding a job post-graduation. The school has a reputable network, however for courses like Fine Art and illustration the intern positions may be limited because Singapore is not very welcoming for such talents. There are top companies who are willing to hire NAFA students on the basis that they have good grades and a juicy portfolio. So if you want the best, you got to be the best.

[8] Overseas Immersion/School Exchange Programmes
Slots for OIP is limited (especially the ones to China), requires an interview. I think the max for some trips were 35-40 people at most. There are subsidies available and coverage varies.

Places NAFA has flown to:
*Xiamen (3 weeks)
*Hangzhou, China Academy of Arts (3 weeks)
*Beijing, Beijing Technology University (3 weeks)
Bangkok (1 week?)
Korea (might've stopped)
Japan (might've stopped)

*Special programme during Year 1 Semester 2 vacation only
I forgot the cost but I've personally have flown to Hangzhou. Best experience ever despite getting a C. Crazy stuff happened at one of the finest Arts school in China :)
Important note:
If you miss the chance to fly, fret not, NAFA's degree programme is a collaboration with a foreign university and they will open an exchange programme for 1 month (that is if COVID doesn't persist). Not sure about the cost though.

[9] CCA (The price list is not updated as of 2020)
List of currently available CCAs:

Muay Thai ( $63 10 sessions)
Yoga (basic: $50 12 sessions, intermediate: $42 10 sessions)
Entrepreneurship club
Urban runners club
Volunteer club

Short story: Long ago, I actually joined the photography club only to end up leaving before they even started anything because everybody was too busy to meet up and thus disbanded.
During my time, Muay Thai is the most popular followed by Yoga. Do check out NAFA OSC account on IG to find out what they do. Looks like they added Korean language class too hmm

Post-Diploma

[1] Furthering Studies at NAFA
NAFA Degree courses for Arts Management and Music
Update (thanks to the comment below): NAFA is going to change its programmes and collaboration starting from AY2021/2022. The new degree courses are collaborating with UAL (University of Arts, London) and it’s changing from one year course to two-year course which includes 5-7 weeks of going to the colleges in London. All the courses are affected except for Arts Management and Music.
Students with A Level certificates, as well as those without relevant diplomas will be allowed to enrol into NAFA’s degree programmes.
The stuff I wrote may not apply anymore but I will still leave it here as a reference for NAFA's 1-year degree. The degree website is empty for now.

How do you determine if taking NAFA degree is worth it and why should you take or not take the NAFA degree? There’s always a mixed bag of opinions over the degree. Personally, I’m not a fan of it but I won’t be biased and input the pros and cons that can better aid in one’s decision.

PROS
1.Existing CGPA from diploma is Low
Finding a job with the private diploma cert and low grades can affect your career progression. Make up for the mistakes that were done during the diploma study and try to do well for the degree.
2. High CGPA, expecting a scholarship (or free ride) for the degree course
If you easily meet these 3 criteria (1) Singapore's local unis are too expensive for your taste, (2) you might be older than 21 years old and need to work ASAP, (3) "broke" but did quite well during your diploma and has an excellent portfolio to show, taking the degree might not be such a bad option. In some instances, the 1-year degree + years of work experience can allow one to take up a master degree at local uni if the pre-requisites are met.
3. Changing career path (still art-related)
It's possible to change paths from design to fine arts. However, for a degree that lasts only for 1 year, it is impossible to acquire a decent knowledge at a degree level compared to the diploma stage in my opinion. Usually, the people who apply for the design degree e.g Spatial Design, have prior knowledge from the related course of study either from NAFA or other polys. 1 year is not enough but never said that it’s impossible and has been done over the years.
4. Increase in starting salary
Nobody says this when asked why they want to take the degree but I'm sure they want an increase in starting salary. If you have a fear of starting out with low pay and want to bump it up by sacrificing a short amount of time and money, go for it.

CONS
1.Not a legit degree
This isn’t a biased answer but an honest one. NAFA's degree is not a professional degree. 1-year won't be enough to acquire a lot of knowledge. There are no internships and full training of Softwares/techniques whatsoever. It's basically aimed at NAFA/poly students who have an existing skillset and internship experience during their diploma studies or international students with similar qualifications. I'm not discouraging anyone who wishes to take the degree because some companies do take in students and if they're lucky, they can work for them after graduation.
2. Not 100% applicable for postgraduate studies in Singapore
The local universities may not kindly cater to all NAFA degrees. A number of students after getting a NAFA degree would choose to study overseas to pursue a masters. If getting NAFA's degree is a mean of broadening your studying experience by going overseas, why not? One real-life example that I've heard of works is landscape and architecture diploma + Spatial Design degree + 3 years of work experience at a good company + an excellent portfolio which eventually led this person to enter NUS Masters in Landscape Architecture. Spatial Design has a chance for relevant postgraduate courses although this may not be the same for the other NAFA degrees.
3. Not worth if you are a Singaporean
The cost of NAFA's degree is considered affordable for an international student and it was practically built for them. If a Singaporean were to study at local uni for 3/4 years including subsidies + tuition grant for a design degree, it'd still be cheaper than a NAFA degree. Plus an actual degree from the public unis is still considered much valuable.

If you stand for better higher educational standards after staying there for 3 years, I say work hard and flee.

[2] Furthering studies at a local university
It’s not impossible. It was already allowed a million years ago. It just a matter of effort you put during your diploma years. The current standard at NAFA has dwindled where only less than 10 NAFA grads emerge victoriously so don't be surprised knowing that NAFA barely has high flyers, the school doesn't even push for it. Even my juniors don't know my degree existed 1 year ago...
2 things to note:

NAFA diploma is not allowed entry into many courses that are irrelevant from the diploma unless the GPA is high. The usual entry requirements are GPA 3.5-4.0 also dependent on the 10th percentile, juicy portfolio and testimonial (I didn't need it FYI)
Chances are higher for relevant degrees although any degree will definitely have entry requirements to meet. Some degrees require O level pass in elementary/additional math (they say they don't check anymore after 2019 but I don't want to play out my chances). I know of students who were optimistic about their GPA but they did not read the instructions beforehand.

You will be fighting with the best from poly, JC and beyond. Do your best to represent yourself as a student from NAFA and you'll find a way to stand out from the crowd.
A warning note to future/existing international NAFA students: I know most of y’all only started living in Singapore just before the beginning of the diploma. I don’t know whether your international qualifications can equate with O levels so consider your future plans in Singapore carefully. My dear international classmates weren’t called up for uni interview (GPA already wasn’t helping, no offence) and the super stringent admission criteria crippled their hopes. Many have remained in NAFA to do the 1-year degree or have returned to their home country. I cannot answer for employment rates. If neither one is the option you want to end up with, do take note.

[3] Finding Work
COVID really struck a lot of people hard. I can count the number of my coursemate who is employed with my 10 fingers or less. The full-time employment rate is terrible, believe it or not. The school hides it like the fine print in the student contract. Here in the Graduate Employment Survey, you can see the ending choices of NAFA graduates.
I really can't tell the success rate of one finding a job even based on IG stories itself. I see quite a number of freelancer or people doing other things. Who will remain in the same industry? The top 10% in the cohort but even the best have struggled or are still struggling to find a job. NAFA students are not only fighting among themselves, there are poly students with similarly named courses out there too with a proper educational lineup that a NAFA diploma can't compare with.
A portfolio is usually the passport for finding work and the past 3 years of study is meant to fill it up. Don't waste time being a stubborn student especially when you will be spending a lot of money to study. The best way to make yourself look hire-able is to definitely have good grades and a portfolio. Can't emphasise anything else other than that to convince the company to hire you.

Wrapping it up

NAFA is one of the schools that provides a unique and alternative route away from the usual poly lifestyle. I had some crazy times in there be it social life or workload. It isn't a bad school (I quote 5/10) but if you can work for what you love, you'll do just fine.
The Open House is open and I suggest for those interested to take a look. A whole bunch of admission guides are up for talks.
NAFA Virtual Open House
If you guys have any questions, comment down below so others can read or if you're shy, drop me a DM but I may be busy to reply. Thanks for dropping by!

slot machines online free play video

KOSTENLOSE Online-Slots und Video Poker! Wählen Sie aus über 30 vollkommen kostenlosen Slot Machines mit 3 Reels und 5 Reels. Kein Download erforderlich - einfach Klicken und Spielen! English Deutsch Français Español Português Italiano Nederlands Norsk. Liste der Gewinner Häufig gestellte Fragen (FAQs) Kommentare Gewinnspiel-Regeln Datenschutzrichtlinie Terms of ... Free slot machines with free spins bonus: no download no registration required Instant play online casino slot games for fun Bonus games & rounds Mobile: iPhone, Android. No sign up. Types of free casino games you can play for free on our site. Slot machines are by far the most popular online casino games. That’s why most of the games you can find here are free slots to play for fun. However, we also support other kinds of casino games, including: Free slot machines; Online Roulette; Online Blackjack; Video Poker; We are always working on expanding our library of free ... Welcome to the best place to play FREE online slots and video poker. Choose from 30+ totally FREE 3-reel and 5-reel slots. No installation or download needed, just ... Our first and foremost goal is to constantly update the slot machines demo collection, categorizing them based on casino software and features like Bonus Rounds or Free Spins. Play 5000+ free slot games for fun - no download, no registration or deposit required. SlotsUp has new advanced online casino algorithm which is developed to pick the ... You can play slot machines online for free on your desktop computer and a range of mobile devices. We provide slots for fun – We allow you to play online slots for fun with all the same features of real money games. At the same time, you don’t need to bother about bankroll management and other real money gambling risks. Pass the time with thousands of entertaining titles with zero restrictions. You can access free slot by either going to an online casino platform or selecting a slot from the list on our website. If you opt to go to a casino, you will probably have to register in order to play them, which is a bit more complicated process than just clicking and playing. However, the registration process is inevitable if you decide to start playing for real money. That’s why we’re the world’s biggest collection of free slot machines online. Free casino slot games are fun to play whenever you have a few minutes to spare. There’s a huge number of themes, so whether you want to find play free online slots that feature cats or even Thor, god of Thunder, you’ll find them all here. At VegasSlotsOnline.com, we offer you the world’s biggest free ... Slot Cinema is your go-to site for all the best live play streaming, land and online casino slot machine videos. We also have reviews on where to play online casino games for real money plus you can play free online slots from IGT, Bally, NETENT, WMS, Aristocrat, Ainsworth and Konami. NB: All bonuses mentioned have terms and conditions. Free Slots: Play Free Slot Machine Games Online for Free. Slot game rules are simple. Despite all the machines are different, the basic mechanics remains the same: choose the bet size, betting lines number, presses spin button. The reels start spinning, and once they stop, symbols combination appears and the correct one means winning. No Download, No Deposit, For Fun Only. Play free slot games ...

ᐈ Free Slots Online Play 7777+ Casino Slot Machine Games

slot machines online free play

slot machines online free play - win

Play Slot Machine Games Online For Free

Bitcoin Games Celebrates St. Patrick’s Day With Free Spins Promotion. The platform is a provably fair online casino where you can play popular games using BTC and BCH. Its Free Spins feature allows users to place free bets on a slot machine that awards real crypto winnings.

Website SEO Stats Online Slots - Play Over 1000 Free Vegas Slot Machines Website Estimated Worth

Play For Free Lock It Link Slot Machine Online

Play Free Online Slots Machines

Play Western Belles the free slot machine on the biggest online slots guide

This Week At Bungie 1/28/2021

Introducing: Seasonal Challenges

Back to the Sandbox

Crimson Days

BugTrax

[Bird Noises Intensify]

Credit Where It’s Due

[Mobile Gaming] How the Nyan Cat led to the death knell for a popular mobile game- the downfall of RWBY Amity Arena.

40 Upcoming Indie/AA Games

Outriders - FAQ

GENERAL

- When will Outriders be released?

- What Platforms will Outriders release on?

- What kind of game is Outriders?

- Where can I watch the Outriders reveal trailer?

- Is there an official discord?

- Is Outriders a Free-to-Play game?

- Is Outriders a Games-As-A-Service?

- Will Outriders feature Micro-transactions?

- Will Outriders support Smart Delivery on Xbox? Will we get a free upgrade to PlayStation 5?

- Will Outriders support Cross-Play?

- Will there be DLC?

- Will my PC be able to handle Outriders?

- Why was the game delayed?

DEMO

- When does the Demo release?

- What will the demo include?

- Will my demo progress carry over to the full game?

- Will the demo feature crossplay?

GAMEPLAY

- Can I play all classes?

- Will I have to replay the story for each class?

- Does each class have multiple skills/powers?

- Why can we only play in groups of 3?

- How does difficulty scaling work?

- How does endgame work?

- What if I miss a loot drop?

- Why don't enemies drop loot in expeditions?

- Does that mean if I fail an expedition I don't get any loot?

- Can I transfer loot to another character?

- How does crating and mods work?

- Is there an in game achievement system?

- How do armour stats work?

- What weapons can we use?

- Can I play the whole game solo?

- Is there PVP?

QUALITY OF LIFE

- Will there be in game comms?

- Will there be loadouts?

- Will there be a transmog system?

- Are there colourblind settings?

- What are the next gen upgrades for Xbox Series X and PS5?

- Do I have to be online to play?

- Is there a mass dismantle system in game?

- Is there an item protection system in game, such as item locking?

- Will players be able to mod/hack their saves etc?

CROSSPLAY/MULTIPLAYER

- Can I turn crossplay off?

- Is there a social hub?

-How does joining a friend work?

- How does scaling work when I join a friend?

- How does loot work in a friends game?

- How will I invite cross play friends?

- Is there a cross save system?

Competitive Budget Deck Masterpost (January 2021)

S Tier

A Tier

B Tier

C Tier

Up-And-Coming

Honorable Mentions